McCain and Bipartisan Group of Senators Press Holder on KSM Trial

Senators from both sides of the aisle have written a letter to AG Eric Holder protesting the civilian trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City. More people are coming forward as viewing this trial as inappropriate, and Mayor Bloomberg has recently noted his concerns too. The complaints are two fold: the location, and that KSM is being tried in a civilian court instead of a military tribunal.

From the Hill - Senators press Holder on military trials for accused Sept. 11 terrorists

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and five other senators are urging the administration to reverse its decision to try in civilian courts terrorist suspects allegedly involved in the Sept. 11 attacks.

McCain and the bipartisan group of senators want the suspects tried in military commissions instead.

They made the demand in a letter sent Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) also signed the letter.

The group said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-declared mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, should be tried by a military commission and not in a New York City courtroom.

“Today, those who subscribe to the same violent ideology as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed continue to plan and execute attacks against innocent civilians all over the world,” the senators wrote. “It is not in our national interest to provide them further publicity or additional advantage.”

Holding the trial in lower Manhattan, just blocks from where the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers once stood, would provide “one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and rally others in support of future terrorism,” they argued.

“Such a trial would almost certainly become a recruitment and radicalization tool for those who wish us harm,” they wrote.