Gitmo Sept. 11 Hearings To Screen in Brooklyn

April 30, 2012 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The arraignment for the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four other Guantanamo Bay prisoners will be broadcast to six sites at four military bases in the northeast U.S., a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

A military judge had authorized the broadcasting of the arraignment by closed-circuit TV to eight sites at six locations, but not all the locations will be ready for Saturday's arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants on charges of helping to plan and carry out the attacks, said Army Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale.

Families of people killed in the terrorist attacks can view the proceedings at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn; Joint Base McGuire Dix in Lakehurst, New Jersey; and Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

Firefighters and other emergency services personnel who responded to the attacks, as well as relatives of the first-responders who were killed, can view from a separate facility at Fort Hamilton, Breasseale said.

Viewing sites for the general public and media will be at Fort Meade, Maryland.

A planned viewing site for victim family members at Fort Meade won't be ready in time for Saturday's hearing and an additional site in the Washington area is still under consideration, the spokesman said.

Mohammed and his co-defendants are expected to be arraigned on charges that include terrorism and murder. They could get the death penalty if convicted.