Bringing 9/11 terrorists to NYC: What could go wrong?

Legal and national security concerns aside, this is still a terrible idea. Devlin Barrett and Larry Neumeister of the AP explain by way of this horrifying example:

At the same federal lockup where Mohammed and the others are to be held, federal prison guard Louis Pepe was attacked in late 2000 by Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a former top aide to Osama bin Laden who was awaiting trial in the embassies case.

Salim surprised Pepe by using a squeezable plastic honey bear container filled with hot sauce as a kind of homemade pepper spray that temporarily blinded the guard.

The inmate then took a plastic comb ground into the shape of a dagger and plunged it into Pepe's left eye. The point pierced deep into his brain, causing severe permanent injury to his sight, speech, and movement.

After the attack, prosecutors say papers found in the cell showed Salim's plan had been to take hostages inside the prison and free his co-defendants. While such a "breakout" plot may sound far-fetched given the security of the federal buildings, in Salim's case the very attempt nearly killed someone.

Salim's lawyer in that case, Richard Lind, said he had "mixed feelings" about Holder's decision, because while he believes the suspects should be tried in civilian court, he has security concerns.

"The prison is not very secure," Lind said. "Maybe things have improved since then, but I think it would be very difficult to manage."

Heads up to the Obama administration: terrorists are dangerous. Another incident:

During a pre-trial hearing, al-Qaida suspect Wadih El-Hage leaped out of a jury box that held several defendants and raced toward the judge, who maneuvered his tall black chair in front of him as a shield. The defendant was tackled by a deputy U.S. marshal and slammed against a wall next to an American flag, about a dozen feet from the judge.

The trial was held in a large ceremonial courtroom with its own security check — a sort of perimeter within the perimeter. Outside the building, heavily-armed marshals stood guard. When hijacked airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center towers Sept. 11, 2001, those same marshals rushed to the scene to join rescue efforts.

I haven't seen any poll results on how New Yorkers feel about this, but some are reacting just as you'd expect:

"Hang them," said Joe Ricciardi, 55, a construction worker near the gaping hole of Ground Zero, site of the Twin Towers destroyed on September 11, 2001.

"Look at what they did to this place. Look at the families they wrecked," added Ricciardi's son, also called Joe, gesturing toward Ground Zero, where nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked planes struck the World Trade Center.

"Put them in a bird cage and hang it in the middle of Times Square," a third man in the group said to mordant laughter. [. . .]

"It would be tough to find jurors," she said. "Justice? I don't know I believe that will happen."

Some relatives of those killed in the World Trade Center attacks also question the wisdom of a trial, although for different reasons.

"We feel that that's a terrible mistake," said Ed Kowalski, a director of the 9/11 Families for a Secure America Foundation.

"To allow a terrorist and a war criminal the opportunity of having US constitutional protections is a wrong thing to do and it's never been done before," he said. "Why would we as a country give these people a platform to further their cause?"

9/11 suspects face angry reception in New York For Jim, a 49-year-old carpenter taking a break on a bench by Ground Zero, the solution is simple.

"They should hang these guys from one of the cranes in Ground Zero," said Jim, who wouldn't give his last name. "Everyone would come down to watch."

*Update: A CNN poll of Americans (not New Yorkers specifically) finds that they strongly oppose the Obama/Holder decision to try KSM and company in civilian court, though they favor his being tried in the US. 80% of those questioned favor the death penalty for KSM, including 20% who say they normally oppose the capital punishment but would make an exception in KSM's case:

The poll indicates that 64 percent believe Mohammed should be tried in military court, with 34 percent suggesting that he face trial in civilian court. Six in 10 people questioned say Mohammed should be tried stateside, with 37 percent calling for the trial to take place at a U.S. facility in another country.

"The decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in front of a civilian court is universally unpopular - even a majority of Democrats and liberals say that he should be tried by military authorities," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Despite that, most Americans say that he will get a fair trial in the U.S." [. . .]

"Nearly eight in 10 favor the death penalty if that happens - including one in five who say they normally oppose the death penalty, but would support it in this case," adds Holland.

Update: Rasmussen has some numbers:

Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters oppose the Obama administration’s decision to try the confessed chief planner of the 9/11 attacks and other suspected terrorists in a civilian court in New York City.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 29% of voters favor the president’s decision not to try the suspects by military tribunal at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba where they are now imprisoned. Nineteen percent (19%) are not sure whether it was the right decision or not.

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