NEW YORK — Bigger names in global terrorism have been tried in New York’s federal courts before but there has never been this kind of security all at once: assault rifle-toting federal guards at every entrance, Homeland Security vans surrounding the courthouses, searches, metal detectors, and sign-ins required for all trial visitors.
As a terrorism trial gets underway for a lone defendant in twin bombings of US embassies nearly two decades ago, fears over the attacks in Paris and unrest a world away have raised security at the city’s federal courthouses to levels not seen since the days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
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But even with the stepped-up security which includes the recording of passing license plates, courthouse administrators said it was important that the doors be kept open and that anyone who enter be able to do so without fear of intimidation.
‘‘No event here or overseas is going to shake that foundation,’’ said Edward Friedland, judicial district executive for the Southern District of New York.
Friedland and Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska both said they could not discuss specific security measures, though they noted that assessments of security were frequently done and improvements often made, including construction of a new $10 million security pavilion alongside a federal courthouse that will prevent visitors from entering the 26-story courthouse without being screened first.
‘‘It will make the place a lot safer because we will be screening people outside,’’ Preska said.
The ability to fully protect lower Manhattan during major terrorism trials conducted a short walk from the World Trade Center complex was called into question in 2009 when Attorney General Eric Holder announced that professed Sept. 11 attacks coordinator Khalid Sheik Mohammed would be tried with four others in Manhattan.
The decision was reversed after city officials protested lthat security would be too costly and potentially disruptive, even to the city’s economy. The five men remain incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
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Outside the courtroom door of Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is presiding over the trial of an alleged Al Qaeda top operative from the 1990s, every spectator must sign-in and walk through an airport-style metal detector. Spectators must also sign in with court officers before entering court. The judge disallows cellphones and other electronic devices.
Although security has been in place for earlier terror trials, a temporary wall has been placed between the courtroom and the screening device, presumably so jurors cannot see the tight security.
There is no similar effort to hide security outside the courthouse, where a show of force seems to be the point. A police car outside the courthouse captures the license plates of passing cars. Numerous Homeland Security vans are also parked around the courthouse.