Toomey Urges Military Tribunal for KSM, Rejects PA as Trial Venue
Contact: Nachama Soloveichik or Tim Kelly - 484.809.7994
Allentown, PA – U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey urged the Obama administration to drop its insistence on trying 9/11-plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court, and came out strongly against trying Mohammed in a western Pennsylvania courtroom, as some have suggested.
News that the administration is considering moving Mohammed’s trial from New York City provoked a whirlwind of speculation about alternative venues. Politico reported this morning that the Western District of Pennsylvania is being considered.
“Holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial in New York City was a terrible idea from the beginning due to the many security concerns,” Mr. Toomey said, “but moving the trial elsewhere does not solve the problem. Mohammed should be tried in a military court, not in a civilian court that affords him generous rights that will give his fellow terrorists access to crucial information about our intelligence and anti-terrorism methods.”
The right place for terrorist trials is in military courts, not civilian courts, and certainly not in western Pennsylvania. Joe Sestak has come out strongly in favor of trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a civilian court in New York City (Fox News, 11/13/09), and Arlen Specter voted in favor of moving Guantanamo detainees to U.S soil only days after the President announced his plans to try Mohammed in New York City (RC #347, 11/17/09). Will Joe and Arlen march in lockstep behind their extreme Democratic leadership, even if it means trying a violent terrorist on Pennsylvania soil with all the rights of a U.S. citizen?
