9/11 families eye KSM court date
WASHINGTON —Families of 9/11 victims denied justice for a decade will see the plot’s mastermind appear before a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on May 5.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants face arraignment before Army Col. James Pohl on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder, each of which carries a death penalty sentence, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Retired FDNY deputy chief Jim Riches, whose firefighter son Jimmy died at the World Trade Center, awaits word on space in the courtroom, and plans to watch a live feed for families at Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton.
Riches recalled how the five accused were defiant during an earlier hearing. “They said they were proud they did it and they’d do it again,” Riches said. “I would like to see justice, and I hope they do get the death penalty. And I’d like the whole world to see how they behave.”
The defendants last appeared at Guantanamo four years ago, when KSM related their desire to plead guilty. In 2009, President Obama scrapped Guantanamo proceedings in favor of a civilian criminal trial in Manhattan federal court. Pushback from the city and in Congress forced a return to the Navy base, where officials re-charged the five last week.
Even if they try to plead guilty, the case’s high stakes and untested venue could mean a year’s worth of legal wrangling before a plea is accepted or a trial even starts.
Pohl is a tough barrister who rejected an administration request to delay the trial of Cole bomber Abd al-rahim al-nashiri — and recommended a death penalty for the Ft. Hood killer while a special prosecutor.
“He’s shown himself to be enormously capable,” said Benjamin Wittes, a security law scholar with the Brookings Institution.