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Last Night

Uncategorized   March 26, 2010 at 5:00 pm Advokat

At a Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) panel last night titled “In the Balance: Terrorism, Security and Civil Liberties,” three participants spoke eloquently about the need to preserve the constitutional rights of terrorism defendants. Faced with the provocative question, “What would you do if Attorney General Eric Holder decided that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, should be tried in Seattle?” US Federal District Court Judge John C. Coughenour said “bring it on”; human-rights activist and Muslim American Jafar Siddiqui said he would work to counter any Al-Qaeda rhetoric at the trial by displaying positive views of American Muslims; and deputy Seattle police chief Nick Metz joked that he would immediately put in for vacation time—then said he was up to the task.

Judge Coughenour deftly shot down the suggestion that Shaikh Mohammed and other Al-Qaeda members should be tried by military tribunals instead of in civil court, noting that there have been hundreds of successful terror prosecutions in federal civil courts since 9/11.

The panel discussion was held in conjunction with an exhibit at MOHI called “The Enemy Within: Terror in America—1776 to Today,” on display through May 2.




  • sarah68

    Mohammed was born in Kuwait of Pakistani parents. He was a leader in bin Laden's Al Qaeda and has been implicated in the 1993 WTC attack and various others around the world. I don't know what Jeff Siddiqui thinks that has to do with American Muslims.

  • http://baldmanwatching.wordpress.com/ Gabe

    What sarah68? Are you sayinng that the prophet Muhammed was a member of the taliban?

  • sarah68

    The man to be tried has the last name of Mohammed. But you probably were not serious.

  • Sparky

    In case you haven't noticed, terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism have cast a pall on Islam and Muslims around the world, including in America. Muslims (Arab and South Asian Muslims in particular, and Sikhs, and anyone who “looks” like a terrorist) here are frequently victims of discrimination and hate crimes, and of general fear and mistrust by the general population since 9/11. I'm glad Jeff is trying to do something about that. People in this country still need to be shown the difference between the vast majority of American Muslims and terrorism suspects.

    But, maybe you were just kidding?

  • sarah68

    No, I wasn't kidding. I've heard Jeff speak a number of times. He does not always succeed in what he sets out to do, for a number of reasons. On this issue, I think there are a lot of framing difficulties that would be hard for anyone to surmount.

  • Lynn

    This was a great panel. If you have an opportunity to see it on TVW or another public access station after the fact, do so.

    One other observation that all three of the panelists came back to was the huge business that the fear of “terrorism” has spawned. Acts of terrorism are simply crimes committed by thugs. Nothing more and should not be treated as a “war”.