Trial date set for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is set to stand trial in June 2028, more than a quarter of a century after the attacks that U.S. officials described as “the astir egregious transgression enactment connected American ungraded successful modern history.” A military judge determined the proceedings would begin in two years after concluding that a 2027 trial date sought by prosecutors came too soon. Mohammed had entered into a plea agreement that would have allowed him to admit guilt in exchange for avoiding a death‑penalty trial, but a federal appeals court vacated the arrangement last summer. He was apprehended in 2003 and has remained in custody at Guantanamo Bay since September 2006. He has previously stated that he planned the 2001 attacks “9/11 cognition from A‑to‑Z.” On Wednesday, U.S. Air Force Judge Lt Col Michael A Schrama ruled that the trial for Mohammed and his three co‑defendants will commence on 5 June, 2028. The co‑accused named in the court filing are Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al‑Hawsawi. The judge noted that the June 2028 start date affords additional time to address pretrial matters, including disagreements over which evidence may be admitted. The upcoming trial will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the hijackings that saw aircraft flown into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia, while a fourth hijacked plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Approximately 3,000 individuals lost their lives in those attacks. Prosecutors accuse Mohammed of devising the scheme to train pilots to steer commercial jets into buildings and of conveying those plans to Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al‑Qaeda. Mohammed, a U.S.–educated engineer, was captured alongside al‑Hawsawi in Pakistan in March 2003. The discarded plea deal, which would have sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, was finalized after two years of negotiations and signed by an official appointed by then‑Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Austin was said to have been taken by surprise and promptly sought to rescind the agreement. The Guantanamo Bay detention facility opened six months after the September 2001 attacks. Today, about 15 detainees remain held there.