Several of the terrorists responsible for planning and preparing the September 11 attacks are taking a page from Hollywood, claiming that they’ve been subject to “sexually harassing” groin searches while imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay.
In court on Tuesday, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and several other detainees — all of whom helped the 9/11 attackers, and all of whom will eventually face trial over one of the deadliest attacks in American history — claimed that a recent change in GitMo policy has led guards to manually search their groin areas, rather than simply running them through a scanner or metal detector.
“We be under sexual harassment today for search in being here,” Khalid Sheik Mohammed told the court. Similar sentiments were expressed by another accused terrorist, Ramzi Bin Al Shibh, who called the groin pat-down a “sexual harassment search.”
Prosecutors weren’t able to provide an explanation as to why the policy changed, but said they would provide someone from the camp to testify about the change to the court this week. The judge, Army Col. James Pohl, did remind all of the defendants that it is their choice to attend court hearings, and that they already told the court they understood that meant they were subject to random searches, including of their privates.
The sexual harassment allegations probably aren’t a coincidence. In GitMo, inmates have access to basic cable channels, and they have, no doubt, heard of the #MeToo movement. Apparently, they thought it was worth a shot to also claim #MeToo.
As the Daily Mail puts it, however, it’s hard to afford Khalid Sheik Mohammed quite the same level of sympathy.