Trial date set for 9/11 mastermind decades after attack

The man accused of planning the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York will face trial nearly 30 years after the tragedy, according to a military ruling earlier this week. Alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three other accused co-conspirators are scheduled to face trial in June 2028, according to the Wednesday ruling. Mohammed’s alleged co-conspirators included Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.

Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama issued a Wednesday ruling for the trial to begin June 5, 2028, over a year later than the January 2027 trial date prosecutors requested. Legal teams needed the additional time to resolve pretrial disputes, including what evidence will be admissible for the trial, Schrama explained.

Didn’t Mohammed already plead guilty? Mohammed and two co-conspirators previously brokered an agreement with the Biden administration to plead guilty to plotting the attacks if prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. The proposed deals sparked public outrage, and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin soon revoked them.

However, a military court revived the deals in late 2024 by ruling that Austin had no authority to withdraw from deals brokered by the prosecutor he appointed. An additional military ruling in December 2024 officially reinstated the plea deals, before a federal appeals court officially ruled to revoke the deals last July.