A U.S. military judge has scheduled the trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants to begin on June 5, 2028, at Guantánamo Bay. The long-delayed case involves capital charges for the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
More than 24 years after the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, the legal proceedings for the alleged orchestrators face another extended timeline. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama set the June 5, 2028 date in a ruling issued Wednesday, pushing past a January 2027 start requested by prosecutors.
Pretrial Hurdles and the Overarching Scaffolding
The additional time is required to navigate complex pretrial motions and evidentiary disputes. The case has spent years mired in legal challenges regarding what evidence can be presented in court, particularly confessions obtained while detainees were held in CIA prisons where torture, abuse, and isolation were employed.
Schrama characterized his scheduling order as the overarching scaffolding,
noting that it assumes the successful completion of deadlines outlined in separate military commissions and FBI LHM compliance orders.
Defendants and Alleged Roles in the 9/11 Conspiracy
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has previously stated that he planned the 9/11 operation from A-to-Z, stands trial alongside three other remaining detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and transferred to Guantánamo Bay in September 2006.
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: Accused of orchestrating the plot and conceiving the idea of training pilots to fly commercial airliners into buildings.
- Walid bin Attash: Accused of operating a training camp in Afghanistan.
- Ali Abdul Aziz Ali: Accused of helping fund the operation and enrolling hijackers in flight school.
- Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi: A Saudi man accused of supplying cash, credit cards, and clothing for the operatives.
A fifth original defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was found mentally incompetent to stand trial due to post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the U.S. military’s enhanced interrogations, separating his case from the remaining four co-defendants.
The Collapsed Plea Agreement and Appellate Rulings
The path to a trial follows the collapse of a negotiated resolution. A federal appeals court threw out an agreement that would have allowed Mohammed to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences without parole, taking the risk of execution off the table.
That deal was repudiated by the administration of former President Joe Biden after two years of negotiation. Subsequently, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin acted within his legal authority when he withdrew from the agreements.
The court’s majority opinion concluded that The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment.
Mohammed and other defendants have since petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision.
Timeline to the Courtroom
The scheduling order details precise procedural milestones leading up to the summer of 2028. Jury selection, including the assembly and empanelment of commission members, is scheduled to begin on June 5, 2028. Opening statements will follow 30 days after empanelment, with evidence presentation immediately succeeding them.
