A Republican Arizona Congressman who opposes the plan to hold the trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists in Manhattan asked Mayor Bloomberg how he would feel if his daughter was "kidnapped at school by a terrorist." Though Bloomberg's daughters — Emma, 30, and Georgina, 26 — are well past school age, Rep. John Shadegg raised the question on the House floor on Monday while trashing a decision he described as "political correctness run amok."
"It's easy for them to say we're tough," the lawmaker said. "I saw the Mayor of New York today say, 'We're tough, we can do it.' Well Mayor, how are you going to feel when it's your daughter that's kidnapped at school by a terrorist?"
Bloomberg had no role in the decision to host the trial in Manhattan, but he has said before that he supports the plan, noting: "It is fitting that 9/11 suspects face justice near the World Trade Center site where so many New Yorkers were murdered." Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser had little to say about Shadegg's statement, telling the Post: “We’re not dignifying this with a response.”
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), no fan of the mayor, chastised Shadegg, "For any member of this House to suggest that somehow to support the decision to have a trial would jeopardize family members of the mayor of the city of New York is outrageous. That member knows who is he, that member should apologize, that member should then be quiet."
When questioned by reporters yesterday afternoon, Shadegg said he was sorry for bringing up the Mayor's family. “I apologize for the insensitivity of my remarks with respect to the mayor or his family, however I think it is important to note that this decision involves potential risk to innocent people,” he said.
