NYC-CourthouseWhen it was announced that some of the criminals involved in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11 were going to be tried in New York City, I was thrilled. This is exactly where they should be tried. Just as Timothy McVeigh was tried in Oklahoma City, these animals should be tried at the scene of their crime. So I was shocked when I read these comments from House Republican Leader John Boehner:

The Obama administration is putting liberal special interests before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause. This decision is further evidence that the White House is reverting to a dangerous pre-9/11 mentality – treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue.

Congressman, this is a law enforcement issue. The men who did this are criminals. They are not soldiers in some war against the US any more than Timothy McVeigh and his friends were soldiers against us. They are criminals and should be treated as criminals. They should be tried, their crimes exposed for all the world to see, and then punished according to our laws. No one should be able to say that we are punishing innocent men. As to these men being released on some “legal technicality,” have no fear. The United States criminal system doesn’t release mass murderers on legal technicalities. Yes, their defense lawyers will throw out every possible defense they can think of but in the end if these men are guilty, they will either be sent to the supermax prison in Colorado to rot with the criminals who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 or they will be sent to death row.

And don’t be afraid that this will somehow make New York City a target of terrorist attacks. In case you haven’t noticed, New York City already is a target of terrorist attacks. New Yorkers face the threat of terrorist attacks every day. But they are not afraid. As the Star-Ledger said, “New York survived the trials of Ramzi Yousef and Omar Abdel-Rahman. It will survive this one, too.” America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. So I say to you congressman, be not afraid.