Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, and three co-defendants are scheduled to stand trial on June 5, 2028, according to a ruling by Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama, a military commissions judge. Schrama rejected a prosecution request to begin proceedings in January 2027, stating that the earlier date did not allow sufficient time to resolve outstanding pretrial matters.
Guantanamo Trial Scheduled for June 2028
The scheduling order establishes an overarching scaffolding of deadlines and milestones leading up to the trial on the merits. Under the court’s timeline, jury selection—including the assembly, challenges, and empanelment of commission members—will begin on June 5, 2028. Opening statements are scheduled to start 30 days after members are empaneled, though defendants may choose to defer their openings until prosecutors finish presenting their case. Prosecutors will present evidence immediately following opening statements, and the order outlines procedures for rebuttal and surrebuttal evidence, motions for findings of not guilty, and closing arguments.
Schrama is the fifth military judge assigned to the case since the 9/11 military commission arraigned the defendants in 2012. The proceedings have faced years of delays driven by disputes over evidence, national security privileges, and challenges regarding statements obtained after the defendants were held in CIA custody. Defense lawyers have pointed to government efforts to withhold details concerning the torture of detainees in secret CIA prisons, where a 2014 Senate report noted prisoners were subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques.
Co-Defendants and Legal History
Mohammed is being prosecuted alongside three alleged co-conspirators: Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. A fifth original defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was later found mentally incompetent to stand trial due to post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from military interrogations, with his case handled separately.
Mohammed, a US-educated engineer and Pakistani national, was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and transferred to the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. He is accused of conceiving the plot to train pilots to fly commercial airliners into buildings and presenting the plan to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Hijackers subsequently crashed planes into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia, while a fourth hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks.
The 2028 trial date follows the collapse of a negotiated plea agreement. Mohammed previously reached a deal that would have allowed him to plead guilty and receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole, avoiding a death-penalty trial. However, a federal appeals court threw out the agreement, and the US Supreme Court received petitions from Mohammed, bin Attash, and al-Hawsawi seeking to challenge a 2024 decision by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to block the plea deal.
Pretrial Hurdles and Proceeding Milestones
The upcoming trial depends on the case meeting procedural deadlines outlined in the scheduling order, raising the possibility of further delays in a capital case that has spent more than two decades in pretrial proceedings. Schrama emphasized that a realistic schedule must account for evidentiary and compliance motions, including FBI LHM suppression motions.
The four defendants face capital charges before the military commission at Guantánamo Bay, where approximately 15 prisoners remain detained. Victim advocacy groups, such as 9/11 Families United led by Terry Strada, have continued to press for the prosecution to proceed despite the prolonged legal hurdles, while the military judge’s order keeps existing deadlines for ongoing pretrial litigation in place.
