Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial set for June 2028
Former assistant U.S. attorney Andy McCarthy breaks down the legal challenges surrounding the prosecution of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, including evidentiary hurdles, recent court decisions on mail-in ballots as North Carolina starts sending them out, and prosecutors’ next steps after an 11-1 jury deadlock in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.
Military prosecutors are pressing forward with the trial of the accused architect of the Sept. 11 attacks without relying on a major confession, choosing to keep the long-delayed case on track for its scheduled 2028 start rather than risk another yearslong setback.
The federal government has opted not to challenge a recent ruling from a military judge that excluded statements Khalid Sheikh Mohammed made in 2007.
As a result, Mohammed’s statements to the FBI will not be admissible when the case goes to trial.
“An appeal could jeopardize the hard-earned June 5, 2028, trial date,” the prosecution team’s liaison to victims wrote in a letter Friday, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to The New York Post. The letter came one week before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, has been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2003. (AP)
Appeals in the military commissions system can take years, a risk prosecutors are seeking to avoid after a long chain of postponements in the 9/11 case. Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators — Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi — are currently set to stand trial in June 2028.
Prosecutors had originally intended to present a confession obtained from Mohammed at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he has been detained for nearly two decades.
Firefighter walks through the rubble of the World Trade Center after it was struck by a commercial airliner in a terrorist attack. A hijacked American Airlines Boeing 767, originating from Boston’s Logan Airport, struck 1 World Trade Center (north tower) at 8:45 a.m. At 9:03 a.m., a United Airlines 767, also hijacked in Boston, crashed into 2 World Trade Center (south tower).The second tower came down 39 minutes after the first. (Todd Maisel/NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Lt. Col. Michael Schrama set the trial date last month before suppressing the confession. He cited “severe coercion” and noted that Mohammed did not have an opportunity to consult with an attorney.
Mohammed and two of his co-defendants had agreed to a plea deal with the Biden administration in 2024 that would have spared them the death penalty.
The deal was subsequently revoked following public outcry, resulting in further lengthy litigation.
Meanwhile, 9/11 families have asked the Trump administration to declassify documents on Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks.
