Red metal barrier gates surround the Federal Courthouse in Alexandria, as well as several police cars from both the city department and Federal police. Behind the barriers and police cars and atop buildings stand several police officers wearing uniforms that make them appear more like paramilitary than average patrol officers.
They are armed with various weapons, but the most common and visible is a Bushmaster M-4, typically lying across their chests and attached by a strap. The rifle is similar to the military’s M-16, though shorter and not capable of firing in automatic mode.
“The same gun that your grandma could buy,” said one officer. “As long as she’s not a convicted felon.”
The security, more than what would normally be seen during a typical trial, is for that of a non-typical defendant, confessed terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui.
Moussaoui, the only person charged criminally in the United States in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack aircraft as part of the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.
While Moussaoui was jailed at the time of the attacks, prosecutors argue federal agents would have been able to thwart or at least minimize the attacks if he had revealed his al-Qaida membership and his terror plans when he was arrested and interrogated by federal agents.
While the sentencing phase of the trial involves life or death, many of those who work and eat around the courthouse say the security provides a feeling of safety.
“I like them being there,” said Catherine Williams, who works in a building adjacent to the square. “I’ve been checked and they’ve looked at my I.D. and it makes me feel safer.”
Cpt. Tim Dickinson, the head of the city police departments special operations division, said that things went as police had hoped, quietly.
“Everyone we’ve had to deal with has really been cooperative, from the citizens and property owners to the business people,” he said. “Everyone really did the best they could and in the end it all seems to have worked out.”
Sheena Hargrave said she doesn’t notice the increased security, but she knows they are there.
“It makes you feel better, It’s good to know someone is watching things and paying attention,” Hargrave said.
City officials said until the case has ended and the city and roads reopened to normal traffic a tabulation of the cost won’t be complete, and what goes into the cost will still have to be determined.
One thing local leaders agree on in regards to cost is that they will be looking to the federal government to pay a share of the bill.
The Moussaoui file
» Born May 30, 1968
» French citizen of Moroccan descent
» Arrested April 16, 2001, while attending a Minnesota flight-training school
» Believed to have been a “replacement” hijacker to take the spot of a man who couldn’t get a visa to travel to the United States from Germany.
