Alleged 9/11 Mastermind to Face Trial in June 2028

More than a quarter of a century after what American officials labeled "the most egregious criminal act on American soil in modern history," alleged September 11th mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will stand trial in summer 2028.

Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama ruled on Wednesday that the trial for the American-educated engineer and three alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, will commence on June 5th, 2028. 

The order pushes the start date 18 months past the January 2027 timeline requested by government attorneys, as the judge determined prosecutors' proposed schedule was too soon. Schrama explained that the extra time is necessary to address pretrial disputes, particularly arguments over what evidence can be introduced in court.

The decision extends a winding legal saga that has dragged on for over two decades, plagued by delays, canceled court dates, and a heavy debate over whether evidence obtained through CIA torture at "black sites" should be admissible. The upcoming trial date remains contingent on the case hitting specific milestones and could be delayed further.

The announcement comes as the United States approaches the 25th anniversary of the coordinated al-Qaeda attacks. On September 11th, 2001, hijackers flew passenger airliners into New York's World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon in Virginia, while a fourth hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The disaster claimed nearly 3,000 lives and left thousands more injured.

Mohammed is accused of coming up with the plan to train operatives to fly commercial jets into iconic buildings and bringing the concept to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Mohammed, who once claimed he planned the "9/11 operation from A-to-Z," was apprehended alongside al-Hawsawi in Pakistan in March 2003. 

Sent to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2006, the defendants are among roughly 15 detainees still housed at the facility, which opened six months after the attacks.

The trial order follows the recent collapse of a high-profile pretrial agreement. In July 2024, Mohammed and two co-defendants signed a plea deal negotiated over two years with military prosecutors. Under its terms, the men agreed to plead guilty to all charges including the murder of 2,976 people, and answer lingering questions from victims' families in exchange for serving life sentences without parole instead of facing execution.

However, the agreement sparked immediate pushback from several victims' families and political leaders. Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was reportedly blindsided by the deal signed by his appointed war court official, swiftly moved to rescind it. Explaining his intervention, Austin wrote:

"I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009."

Following appeals from defense attorneys, the Biden administration took the dispute to federal court to block the arrangement. Last July, a Washington, D.C. federal appeals court ruled 2-1 that Austin acted within his legal authority, officially throwing out the agreement and setting the stage for the 2028 proceedings.