New York judge: Jurors can hear imam's comment that 'everybody was happy' about 9/11 attacks

Published January 08, 2015

A New York judge says jurors at the trial of an Egyptian Islamic preacher can hear his statements that "everybody was happy" when the World Trade Center was hit by airplanes.

Judge Katherine Forrest made the ruling Tuesday, a day after selecting a jury to hear the case against the preacher, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (muh-STAH'-fuh kah-MEHL' muh-STAH'-fuh).

Mustafa has pleaded not guilty to charges he conspired to support al-Qaida by trying to set up a terrorist training camp in 1999 in Oregon. He also is accused of helping abduct two American tourists and 14 others in Yemen in 1998. Four hostages died.

Defense lawyers had argued that the Sept. 11 statement was unduly prejudicial. The judge says it is prejudicial but not unfairly so. She also has excluded several other statements as cumulative.

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