A prosecutor at the New York trial of Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law says he used the “murderous power of his words” to rally others against America after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewin made his opening statement Wednesday to jurors at the trial of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith.

The onetime imam at a Kuwaiti mosque was brought to New York from Turkey last year. He also once served as al-Qaida’s spokesman.

Prosecutors say he announced in videos with bin Laden after the 2001 attacks that additional acts against the United States would be as devastating as those that downed the World Trade Center. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Kuwait-born Abu Ghaith is married to bin Laden’s eldest daughter, Fatima.

(AP)