Key facts
- Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants will go to trial on June 5, 2028.
- The trial will be held before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
- An appeals court last year rejected a plea deal that would have spared the defendants the death penalty.
- The plea deal was revoked in August 2024 by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
- Mohammed is accused of orchestrating the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
A U.S. military judge has scheduled the trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and three co-defendants to begin on June 5, 2028. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama issued the order, marking a significant development in a prosecution that has been stalled for two decades.
Last year, a U.S. appeals court overturned decisions that would have allowed Mohammed and two other defendants to accept plea agreements that would have prevented the death penalty. The appellate ruling reversed the decisions of a military judge and the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review. The plea agreement, initially offered in 2024 and accepted by the Pentagon official overseeing the Guantanamo war court, was revoked in August of that year by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin following criticism from Republican lawmakers.
Under Schrama's order, Mohammed, along with Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Atash, Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, will face trial. The proceedings will commence with the selection of a jury composed entirely of service members. Opening statements are scheduled to begin 30 days after the jury is seated, followed by the presentation of prosecution evidence. The defense will present its case 60 days after the prosecution concludes. The trial will conclude with a sentencing phase.
Schrama rejected the prosecution's request to start the trial in January 2027, citing insufficient time for resolving pre-trial evidentiary and compliance motions. Mohammed remains the most prominent detainee at the Guantanamo Bay facility, established in 2002 by then-U.S. President George W. Bush to hold foreign militant suspects. He is accused of masterminding the plot that involved hijacking commercial airliners and crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.