A military judge in Washington, D.C., announced Wednesday that the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – the man alleged to have orchestrated the September 11, 2001 attacks – will commence in June 2028. The decision pushes the start date back about a year and a half from the January 2027 timeline that prosecutors originally requested.
Who is on trial
Mohammed will be tried alongside three other suspected conspirators: Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed al‑Hawsawi. All four are accused of planning and executing the coordinated hijackings that resulted in the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in New York, the strike on the Pentagon in Virginia, and the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field.
Legal background
The defendants were charged and arraigned in 2008 on counts of war crimes and murder for the nearly 3,000 deaths caused by the attacks. Their case has been handled by the military commissions system established during the Obama administration, a process that has faced repeated legal challenges and criticism over the years.
In the summer of 2025, a split federal appeals court dismissed a proposed plea agreement that would have allowed Mohammed to plead guilty in exchange for a guarantee that he would not face the death penalty. The ruling forced the commissions to move forward with a full trial.
Detention and interrogation
Mohammed has been held at the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and transferred to Guantánamo three years later. A 2014 Senate report later revealed that the CIA subjected him and other detainees to what it termed “enhanced interrogation techniques,” including waterboarding on 183 occasions – a practice described by critics as a series of near‑drownings.
Defense arguments
Defense counsel argue that the prolonged timeline is partly due to the government’s attempts to keep details of those interrogations secret. They contend that the lack of transparency hampers the ability to mount an effective defense and violates the defendants’ rights.
Implications
The upcoming trial is the most high‑profile case to be heard before the military commissions in more than a decade. It will test the durability of the commission system and the nation’s commitment to delivering justice for the victims of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.
While the trial will be conducted under military jurisdiction, its outcomes could influence broader discussions about the balance between national security, constitutional rights, and the rule of law.
Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.
