The Obama administration’s decision to try accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal civilian court has left Virginia leaders sharply divided on the possibility that terrorist trials might come to the commonwealth.
The reactions since the Justice Department’s announcement last week have broken from traditional partisan divisions and run the gamut of condemnation and praise. Rep. Jim Moran and Gov. Tim Kaine, both Democrats, have each cited the constitutional protections for the accused to defend the administration’s decision. Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, and Rep. Frank Wolf, a Republican, have blasted the move to take the cases out from the military’s jurisdiction.
While Mohammed and four other alleged Sept. 11 conspirators are set to be put on trial in New York City, some in Virginia remain concerned about suggestions that Alexandria is still under consideration for future trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees. Wolf aide Dan Scandling said “there is still a likelihood that Alexandria is in the mix.”
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia “is still in line” to prosecute future terror cases.
Neither Kaine nor Gov.-elect-Bob McDonnell said they had heard those reports. Kaine, however, said “I’m a proud American, and I believe that the virtues that we have of due process … have stood the test of time since the Constitution was drafted.”
“I frankly don’t see what there is to fear about the application of those bedrock American principles to folks,” the governor said.
McDonnell said he is “strongly opposed” to any consideration of Alexandria as a venue for future trials, arguing the proceedings would be disruptive for residents and leave the city a potential target for terror attacks.
“I hope that the president and the administration would find some other places that are willing to both house and try these detainees,” McDonnell said. “But I don’t think Virginia is the place.”
Neither the U.S. attorney’s office nor Justice Department would comment on possible future venues for terror trials.
