9/11 Mother Demands Obama Try Terrorist Plotters In Civilian Court (VIDEO)

A group of more than 200 family members of 9/11 victims has released an emotional new web video imploring the Obama administration to remain true to its plans to try terrorist suspects in civilian court.

Anticipating a final announcement of the trial venue for the 9/11 plotters, the group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is warning the president against "buckling to political pressure," calling the use of military tribunals the "wrong thing to do."

In a nearly four-minute long video, Donna Marsh O'Connor -- a Peaceful Tomorrows member who lost her pregnant daughter when the Twin Towers collapsed -- speaks both to the broad notion that America has a "historic commitment to justice" and, more narrowly, to the horse-trading politics that now surrounds terrorist trials. Reflecting disappointment with recent signals from the White House, O'Connor calls for the president to reject a reported compromise proposal with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in which the administration would drop plans for civilian trials in exchange for Republican support for the closure of Gitmo.

"As 9/11 families, we have suffered greatly and waited almost nine years to see justice done with our own eyes," O'Connor says. "We understand that you face political pressure to back down. We ask that you do not allow fear and prejudice to govern your decision -- as we are not afraid. We know our country is strong enough to hold on to our values in the face of terrorism."

An Urgent Letter to President Obama from Peaceful Tomorrows on Vimeo.

The video follows other efforts by Peaceful Tomorrows to advocate for civilian trials for the 9/11 suspects -- which is just one of the policy topics the group tackles. But while having O'Connor in the role of narrator makes for a far more poignant and powerful argument, it still crashes up against certain political realities. The administration's commitment to holding civilian trials has ebbed, but it's far from disappeared. At this juncture, White House aides say, they are still looking for a venue to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others in the criminal system. They just haven't found local officials (see: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) who are willing to help.

Comments

[truthupontruth]

01:12 AM on 05/14/2010

Is there a possibility that the sane Americans amongst us could get the wackos that don't respect the law or the constitution or 200 plus years of legal evolution to maybe waterboard each other, in the hopes of possibly accomplishing something constructive in the next 20 years? I've given up hope that anything rational is ever going to come out of these trials. 9 years after 9/11, and there have been thousands of families waiting in vain for justice, 700 innocent people released from Gitmo without trials, and all the intelligence in America has not gotten a real conviction yet.

[Terry Kay Rockefeller]

10:45 AM on 04/02/2010

My sister Laura was killed in the WTC. If you watched the video, you saw her photo. Nothing will bring Laura back to me and the others who loved her so dearly, but we must all continue to push and challenge the leaders of this nation to ensure that her death and the death of the nearly 3,000 others that day NEVER becomes a reason for our nation to betray its values and ideals, or to shy away from confronting the terrible and illegal acts of the Bush administration. We know that we will learn about torture and other hideous practices when the trials are finally held. We must own up to the past and see our nation move forward on a firm footing of respect for the rule of law and the Constitution. Hold the trials in open court !!

[DustinTime]

11:59 AM on 04/01/2010

Why did this critical story fall off the front page so quickly, Huffington Post?

[DrJykell]

08:43 PM on 03/31/2010

I'd also ask that those civilian trials be televised to allow the whole country to hear the case the federal govt has on these folks who are accused of the murder of 3000+ in one day,, I believe it will go along way to help repair the trust that has been lost between the ppl and the govt who allowed the freedom of the American population to be invaded and an American investigation to be compromised..

Just think of how much a commercial would go for in this forum,,, $$$$$$!

[Bryan Bowyer]

06:54 PM on 03/31/2010

See what people don't understand is that we can't use military tribunals, until we legally and officially declare war. Since we are not a war legally, the President's war powers are not legitimate. Also, the terrorist must be tried in the jurisdiction where the crime took place.

[Ricky Lee Abrams]

06:16 PM on 03/31/2010

Trying the terrorists in military tribunals says that America is a weak country and that it's civilian system cannot protect the public.

Authoritarian people like the Islamists believe that a government cannot allow ordinary civilians run society. For those who want to impose Islam on the entire world, there is only one way and democracy is not it. Those who want to move the trials into military tribunals think similarly to the Islamists; democracy is bad and the ordinary man must follow the strong leader and never make independent decisions. A jury is an anathema to the Islamists and to Dick Cheney.

I believe that secular civilian courts must try the terrorists. A secular, civilian court disproves everything for which the Islamists stand.

[jerryatthebeach]

05:44 PM on 03/31/2010

Is this a money issue?? It should be held in a Military Tribunal at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary...

[Dupree]

07:19 PM on 03/31/2010

Unless you lost someone in the 911 tragedy, I suggest that they have a personal investment in their decision while others are yielding to political prostitution of being scared into thinking that the same judicial system that prosecuted serial killers who ate human flesh on occasions, murderers who tortured their victims and all other heinous crimes against society, somehow is not able to deal out justice on our civilian soil. They have every right to pursue their brand of justice since their family members murderers has yet been prosecuted in nine years since our attention went to Iraq and ignored the true culprits that attacked us on 911. It is their decision NOT yours or mine.

[Lucznikowska]

05:36 PM on 03/31/2010

I also lost a family member on 9/11 in NYC, and I want the trials here in the Southern District federal courts. Military commissions have convicted 3 since 9/11 and two are already free. Federal courts have convicted 195 since 9/11 - all in prison. Mayor Bloomberg is caving to the real estate interests who think that the trials will turn off potential renters of the WTC site. To satisfy them, he is inflating the money quote that would be needed for security for federal trials in NYC. I want to see his budget in detail. There is a high-profile terrorist in a NYC jail downtown near Ground Zero right now, but I have heard no wild claims of it costing the city a more in added security. The writer of the article is mistaken about no local officials wanting to cooperate. The Mayor of Newburgh, NY, just up the Hudson and in the jurisdiction of the Southern District federal courts has publicly asked for the trials in his town. He recognizes the economic boon it will be to his depressed area. Give him what he wants, so I can witness the trials.

[annie0107]

05:49 PM on 03/31/2010

I too lost a family member on 9/11. I also happen to live in Dutchess Cty (not far from Newburgh, NY) and gladly suppport the Mayor of Newburgh in asking for the trials to be held here.

[SueMVetforObama2]

10:06 PM on 03/31/2010

I am sorry.

[Jmz4gtu]

05:31 PM on 03/31/2010

I think most people don't have a problem with the civilian trial, but I don't see any real reason to do it in New York, where, I agree, the logistics will be a nightmare and the security risks are too high.

There's no reason you can't have a civilian trial at a military base.

[amdmulderry]

05:14 PM on 03/31/2010

Bravo to the brave voices who keep insisting on justice and protesting the erosion of the Constitutional law - and honor - of our nation.

[JennieB]

03:57 PM on 03/31/2010

I'm with you lady! Too bad your Governor and the majority of New Yorker's are too chickenshit.

[danielet]

03:52 PM on 03/31/2010

As 9/11 survivor I certainly have no say next to those who lost loved ones. But I feel compelled to lend my voice to their demand that the second WTC attack criminals be tried just like those of first. It is really the same crime by the same gang. Military tribunals make of them soldiers in a war, which is how they want to be portrayed. As such, the treatment they got at Gitmo makes us the bad guys violating Geneva Conventions, making us WAR-CRIMINALS!

I was not a soldier in battle when the first plane hit, just an aspiring Vietnam War historian on crutches there to pick up his bookorder from WTC Borders Bookstore. That night I called special healthcare provider number in Albany for ER assignment ande said: WE HAVE MORE DOCTORS THAN SURVIVORS,PLEASE GO HOME. binLaden’s motive was very clear: spectacular carnage so rich Arabs hating US policies would empty their coffers before alQaeda. Their’s was a gangland message, it was not a religious or political message. 9/11 was a publicity stunt using a few men ready to commit mass murder suicide for notoriety, just like gunslingers of the Old West. Our soldiers devastated Iraq and Afghanistan in Pentagon effort to predominate our antiwar post ColdWar national mentality, following the equally criminal neocon notion of WORLD WAR IV against Islam. So we turned crimes into wars to keep Pentagon reaping the cash.

[DustinTime]

11:58 AM on 04/01/2010

Thank you.

[NBD09]

03:00 PM on 03/31/2010

What she should demand is a civilian court for Cheney and Bush, an unbiased (so foreign) investigation of what REALLY happened that day since it's impossible to believe the story the Bush admin gave 100%, documents that are "classified" about 9/11 to be published...and to get a get out of jail free card for kicking Bush in the cojones....I guess I ask too much.

[Malron Jett]

02:59 PM on 03/31/2010

I like this.

[Yikes11]

02:45 PM on 03/31/2010

Demands . . .