A man currently on trial for terrorism expressed happiness over the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York Daily News reported.
Abu Hamza al-Masri, who is accused of supporting al-Qaeda and the Taliban, said in a TV interview to a reporter that he was satisfied with 9/11 as well as the bombing of a U.S. Navy vessel in 1998. The interview was played before a jury at his trial in Manhattan Federal Court.
"Everybody was happy when the planes hit the World Trade Center," said al-Masri, who has hooks where his hands should be after losing both decades ago, the newspaper reported.
Judge Katherine Forrest ruled the video proves al-Masri's beliefs and that it is admissible as evidence. But defense attorneys said the video has nothing to do with the crimes he is accused of, the Daily News reported.
Prosecutors claim the defendant participated in the 1998 kidnapping of tourists in Yemen and attempted to set up a camp for training terrorists at a ranch in Oregon a year later. Al-Masri, a cleric from Egypt, was extradited to the U.S. from the United Kingdom in 2012.
An investigation into al-Masri while he was in Europe discovered evidence as to his alleged conduct, including guns found at his mosque in London. More weapons were taken from the home of his associate in Sweden, the newspaper reported. Al-Masri was indicted in 2004.
The jury also saw videos promoting Islamist ideals and manuals on how to make bombs and poison.
When asked about a speech he made before 9/11 that promoted airplane attacks, the defendant said the attacks were needed in order to stop the West.
"You are using god gift for flying to oppress nations to kill them and maim them," al-Masri said according to the newspaper. "I wanted to use any means necessary to stop the West aggressions."