By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- A U.S. military judge set June 5, 2028, as the trial start date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three alleged accomplices accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
- The date is 18 months later than the January 2027 start prosecutors had requested, with the judge citing unresolved pretrial disputes over evidence.
- Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
- He and co-defendants Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi remain held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
- A federal appeals court last year threw out a plea agreement that would have spared Mohammed the possibility of execution in exchange for guilty pleas and answers to victims’ families’ questions.
WASHINGTON — A U.S. military judge has set a trial date of June 5, 2028, for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 26 years after the attacks occurred.
Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama’s ruling pushes the trial 18 months beyond the January 2027 date prosecutors had sought, citing the need to resolve pretrial disputes, including disagreements over what evidence may be presented at trial.
Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon; a fourth hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers confronted the hijackers. He faces trial alongside Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, among the last detainees held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The case has faced repeated delays across multiple presidential administrations. A trial was previously scheduled for 2021 but was later canceled. Last year, a federal appeals court threw out a negotiated plea agreement that would have allowed Mohammed to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences without parole for him and two co-defendants, sparing him the possibility of execution. The deal, negotiated over two years, would also have required the men to answer outstanding questions from victims’ families about the attacks. Former President Joe Biden’s administration ultimately repudiated the agreement.
The 2028 trial date remains contingent on the case meeting pretrial deadlines and could be delayed further.