Gov changes his mind: Sept. 11 trial in NYC a bad idea

The government's plan to put Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks on trial in Manhattan is a bad idea, Gov. Paterson said today.

"This is not a decision that I would have made," Paterson said when asked about the upcoming federal trial. "Our country was attacked on its own soil on Sept. 11, 2001, and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack."

Paterson made the comments following an appearance in East Harlem -- contradicting what he said Friday, which was that he favored the trial being held in the city.

"It's very painful. We're still having trouble getting over it," he added. "We still haven't been able to rebuild that site and having those terrorists tried so close to the attack is going to be an encumbrance on all of New Yorkers."

In contrast, Paterson told WPIX/Channel 11 News that the Obama Administration's decision to try the detainees in New York is a decision he supports.

"I do not understand why they decommissioned [the detainees] from serving or being tried on Guantanamo Bay but that's a decision that the federal government made and our job is to help them," Paterson told PIX News. "We will cooperate to the full extent that we can."

NYPost