Cops will have double layer of security at courthouse for 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_c...rity_for_.html

BY Rocco Parascandola and Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, January 20th 2010, 4:00 AM

Cops are planning to ring the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan with a double-layer of security when the accused 9/11 mastermind and his four cohorts arrive for trial.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly on Tuesday outlined a plan that would turn most of lower Manhattan into a heavily-patrolled fortress.

"Not only will we have to protect the core area of Manhattan, we'll have to provide additional protection for the entire city," Kelly said at a New York Press Club event.

"We will have to be prepared and we are preparing for any event," the top cop added.

Kelly said a "soft" perimeter will be established from Bowery to Broadway, and from Franklin St. to Canal St., and be manned by cops on foot, horseback and patrol cars.

A harder perimeter, which will include bomb squad cops and police snipers, will be set up in the blocks adjacent to the 500 Pearl St. courthouse.

Kelly said the plan calls for setting up 2,000 barriers and checkpoints that will restrict pedestrians and traffic.

He also said there will be unannounced vehicle stops.

The feds have agreed to alert the NYPD 45 days before they plan to move Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 suspects to New York federal from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Kelly said the NYPD security plan could go into effect a day before the suspects arrive.