July 5, 2011 / by emptywheel

 

Eric Holder, Preet Bhrara, and Ray Kelly Planning Civilian Terror Trial in Manhattan

Was it just a year ago when we were told it was impossible to hold a civilian terrorist trial in NY?

Because that seems to be what DOJ and the NYPD have in mind with alleged -Shabaab leader, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, who is accused of multiple counts of material support for terrorism.

Our government’s refound belief in the safety of terrorist trials in Manhattan is just one of the interesting details of today’s announcement.

Another is whether the Republicans will let DOJ hold this trial–after all, they believe all accused terrorists must be put into the military commission system and have threatened to defund DOJ to make sure that happens.

The unusual conditions under which Warsame has been kept since he was captured on April 19 might make the Republicans more excited about Warsame’s treatment. Apparently, he’s been floating around on a ship being interrogated for over two months. Then just days ago, he was given a Miranda warning, and after it was waived, he reportedly spoke freely with prosecutors. I’ll be curious to learn more about our new floating prisons!

I’m curious too how the NYPD got involved in this case. The indictment is not yet online, so I’m not sure how this arose out of NYC’s JTTF (as it apparently does). But apparently the NYPD has been involved.

Finally, one more question: the US hit Somalia with a drone strike on June 23, and reportedly showed up after the fact (perhaps as late as this weekend) to retrieve the bodies hit in the strike. Is there a connection between that strike and the unsealing of this indictment?

Copyright © 2011 emptywheel. All rights reserved.
Originally Posted @ https://www.emptywheel.net/2011/07/05/eric-holder-preet-bhrara-and-ray-kelly-planning-civilian-trial-in-manahattan/