6 days ago
9/11 Trial Set for June 2028 After Decades of Delays
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three other men are accused of helping plan the September 11 attacks.
Those attacks happened in 2001 and killed nearly 3,000 people.
A military judge has scheduled their trial for June 5, 2028.
The case will be heard at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
Military service members will serve as the jury.
Prosecutors wanted the trial to start in January 2027, but the judge said more time was needed to settle legal disagreements.
A proposed deal would have allowed Mohammed and two others to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty.
An appeals court rejected that deal, so the case is moving toward a trial that may also include a punishment phase.
A U.S. military judge scheduled Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants to begin trial on June 5, 2028.
The defendants are accused of planning the September 11, 2001, attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
Judge Michael Schrama rejected prosecutors’ proposed January 2027 start because pretrial evidence and compliance disputes remain unresolved.
The Guantanamo Bay proceedings will use a jury panel made entirely of military service members and will include sentencing.
A plea agreement that would have avoided the death penalty was rejected by a U.S. appeals court after being revoked by former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
- Who
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali.
- What
- A U.S. military tribunal trial over the defendants’ alleged roles in plotting the September 11 attacks.
- Where
- The proceedings will take place at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
- When
- The trial is scheduled to begin on June 5, 2028, nearly 27 years after the attacks.
- Why
- The defendants are accused of developing and directing a plot involving hijacked aircraft flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; another aircraft crashed in Pennsylvania.
Plea Agreement Supporters
Trial and Death-Penalty Advocates
How the case should proceed
Plea Agreement Supporters
The proposed agreements would have allowed Mohammed and two co-defendants to plead guilty, avoid the death penalty, receive life sentences without parole, and answer questions from victims’ families.
Trial and Death-Penalty Advocates
Critics, including Republican lawmakers, opposed the agreements. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked them, and an appeals court later rejected efforts to restore them.
Timing of proceedings
Plea Agreement Supporters
A plea agreement could have avoided a full military tribunal after more than two decades of legal delays.
Trial and Death-Penalty Advocates
The prosecution is proceeding toward a June 2028 trial because the judge found that a January 2027 start would not allow enough time to resolve pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions.
Key facts
- Trial date
- June 5, 2028
- Presiding judge
- U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama
- Defendants
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants
- Trial location
- Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
- Attack date
- September 11, 2001
- Reported death toll
- Nearly 3,000 people
- Rejected trial date
- January 2027, which Judge Schrama said left insufficient time to resolve pretrial disputes
- Plea agreement
- The proposed agreements would have imposed life sentences without parole on Mohammed and two co-defendants instead of risking execution
Sources
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