By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Despite a groundswell of opposition from downtown residents, local politicians and even, apparently, President Barack Obama, one Justice Department officials says the 9/11 terror trials could still be held in lower Manhattan.
“It's not off the table," Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler said Monday, the Daily News reported.
If held in New York, the trials Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspects are estimated to run up a more than $200 million annual bill for security costs. Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg argued in a press conference that the trials could cost up to $1 billion in security if the trials lasted more than 4 years.
“It would be great if the federal government could find a site that didn’t cost a billion dollars, which using downtown will,” he said.
Today, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman is expected to introduce legislation that would block funding for civilian trials, forcing the suspects to be tried by a military commission, the Hartford Courant reported.
Suggested alternative sites include military institutions such as West Point.
In November, the Obama administration said it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in a Manhattan courtroom. The decision sparked immediate outrage from local politicans and civilian leaders.
