Military Judge Sets June 2028 Trial Date for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

A US military judge has officially ordered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, along with three co-defendants, to stand trial beginning in June 2028. The long-awaited decision follows decades of legal hurdles regarding what the US government terms the most severe criminal act on American soil in modern history.

US Air Force judge Lt Col Michael Schrama announced on Wednesday that the proceedings will commence on June 5, 2028. Alongside Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the court document lists Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Al Hawsawi as the co-defendants and alleged accomplices.

While US authorities have spent more than twenty years attempting to bring the case to court, the newly scheduled date is 18 months later than the initial timeline proposed by prosecutors. Lt Col Schrama explicitly rejected the prosecution's request for a January 2027 start, noting it would provide insufficient time to properly resolve pretrial evidentiary and compliance motions. The upcoming proceedings remain subject to potential delays if critical pretrial deadlines are missed, following the cancellation of a previously planned 2021 trial.

Currently held as the most prominent inmate at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba—which was established in 2002 by then US president George W Bush following the September 11 attacks—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stands accused of organizing the plot to fly hijacked passenger jetliners into the World Trade Centre in New York City and the Pentagon in 2001, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.

Last year, a US appeals court blocked Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants from proceeding with guilty pleas under a 2024 agreement that would have avoided the death penalty. According to a letter signed by chief prosecutor for military commissions Adm Aaron Rugh, the defendants had previously agreed to plead guilty to all charges, including the murder of the 2,976 victims. However, that July 2024 agreement was revoked the following month by then defence secretary Lloyd Austin amid pushback from Republican lawmakers, prompting the legal referral to the appeals court.

According to the 11-page order issued by Lt Col Schrama, the 2028 proceedings will begin with the selection of a service-member panel to act as the jury under military justice rules. Opening statements will take place 30 calendar days after the panel is seated, followed by the presentation of the prosecution's evidence. The schedule allows both legal teams to present and rebut motions for findings of not guilty, with the defence introducing its primary evidence 60 days after the prosecution rests. The military trial will ultimately conclude with a dedicated sentencing phase.