Police say more than 1,500 protesters, including first responders and families of September 11th victims, spoke out in Downtown Manhattan Saturday against the decision to try alleged terrorists in the city.

The 9/11 Never Forget Coalition held the protest in Foley Square to express opposition to Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to hold the trial in Manhattan Federal Court.

The protesters say Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other alleged September 11th co-conspirators are receiving the same rights as U.S. citizens while New York's safety is endangered.

The group also says the increased security during the trial will affect people's daily lives.

Chinatown residents are especially worried about what will happen, as their neighborhood is close to the federal courthouse.

"There's not even a sidewalk separating us and once the trial's begin we are going to be under the same type of severe lockdown that occurred after 9/11, from which we have barely recovered," said resident Jeanie Chin. "This is a big concern for us. We're talking about rights for terrorists but what about the rights for the people who live here?"

"I don't want it here," said protester Jeanie Evans. "The whole attitude that a lot of people have is they want to come here and use the court as a platform to spew. We already know what they think. They want us all dead, is the bottom line. So I don't think they should be given a platform to say anything, honestly."

Manhattan Representative Jerry Nadler, a strong supporter of holding the terror trials in New York, downplayed notions that the city's security would be threatened.

"That's absurd. No one escapes from a maximum lockup federal penitentiary, no one ever has. And we know how to conduct trials of terrorists. We've had trials of terrorists here in New York and they were successful. Terrorists were convicted and sentenced to long terms in prison," said Nadler.

One man who agrees with Nadler, former Fire Department Chief Jimmy Riches, lost his son Jimmy in the September 11th attacks and has met with President Barack Obama about the issue.

"It's eight years now - we have no accountability, there's been nothing done, they're still in arraignment stages in military prosecutions," said Riches. "Let's get behind the president like we did after 9/11, let's let him move forward."

There's no word yet on when the trials will take place, and the issue is not likely to go away any time soon.