9/11 Accused Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Scheduled for 2028 Guantanamo Trial

A US military judge has scheduled the long-delayed trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks, for June 5, 2028, at Guantanamo Bay. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama set the jury selection and trial date after rejecting a prosecution request to begin proceedings in January 2027, marking another milestone in a legal process that has dragged on for a quarter-century since the 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

The setting of a trial date comes amid severe legal setbacks for the prosecution, notably a late August ruling that barred the use of a 2007 FBI confession because it was tainted by torture. Mohammed, along with co-defendants Walid bin Attash, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, faces charges including conspiracy, terrorism, and murder in violation of the law of war, with prosecutors continuing to seek the death penalty.

The central obstacle in prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has long stemmed from his treatment after his March 2003 capture in Pakistan. Following his apprehension, Mohammed spent more than three years in secret CIA detention facilities where he was subjected to brutal interrogation tactics, including 183 sessions of waterboarding, according to a U.S. Senate report.

In August, military judge Lt. Col. Schrama ruled that an alleged confession Mohammed made to FBI investigators in 2007 could not be admitted at trial because it remained inextricably tainted by the earlier coercive interrogation. While the ruling dealt a significant blow to the government's evidentiary case, federal prosecutors decided against appealing the decision. Officials and observers noted that an appellate battle would likely have pushed the trial schedule back even further.

Military and legal experts attribute many of the proceedings' delays to the initial decision by the Bush administration to bypass the federal court system and establish military commissions. Michael Lebowitz, a former Justice Department national security attorney and Guantanamo prosecutor, explained that the government shifted away from traditional law enforcement toolkits toward a hybrid military tribunal system that suffered from constant cycling of judges and legal personnel.

Attempts to pivot the case faced repeated failures. In 2009, then-Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans to try Mohammed in a federal civilian court in Manhattan, blocks away from the World Trade Center site. That initiative collapsed following fierce political backlash, security concerns, and subsequent congressional restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees to the United States. Furthermore, a plea agreement reached in 2024 that would have spared Mohammed the death penalty in exchange for a life sentence fell apart last year.

The unique logistics of conducting proceedings at the remote U.S. naval base in Cuba have further prolonged the pre-trial phase. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, witnesses, and family members of victims have routinely traveled together on chartered flights originating from Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., a logistical hurdle participants frequently labeled a traveling circus.

Former prosecutor Michael Lebowitz noted that legal teams spent years repeatedly litigating mundane issues, such as prisoner communications and bail conditions, every time personnel rotated out of the assignment. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama is the fifth judge to preside over the case since the defendants were formally arraigned in 2012 in what ranks as the longest arraignment in American history.

For the families of those killed in the 2001 attacks, the prolonged legal limbo has caused profound frustration as many aging relatives hope to witness a verdict in their lifetimes. Gordon Felt, president of Families of Flight 93 and brother of passenger Edward Felt, expressed skepticism that the 2028 date will hold, noting that numerous pre-trial motions and rulings remain pending.

At the same time, Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United whose husband Tom died at the World Trade Center, emphasized that victims' relatives remain committed to seeing the case resolved through the death penalty. Strada argued that capital punishment is necessary to prevent any future administration from potentially exchanging Mohammed for Americans imprisoned abroad, asserting that the penalty fits the magnitude of the crime.

Despite the scheduling order for June 2028, veteran legal analysts express deep pessimism regarding whether a verdict will ever be delivered. David Raskin, a Washington lawyer and former federal prosecutor who was slated to lead the aborted New York civilian trial, wrote in an essay that the military commissions became a defense lawyer's dream plagued by endless procedural litigation.

Raskin predicted that there will never be a completed military commission trial for Mohammed and his co-defendants. While former prosecutors like Lebowitz maintain confidence that sufficient documentary and communications evidence exists to secure convictions without the excluded confessions, meeting the newly established 2028 milestone will depend entirely on resolving numerous outstanding legal motions.