A quarter-century after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks claimed nearly 3,000 lives, the legal proceedings against the alleged masterminds remain in a protracted pre-trial phase at Guantánamo Bay. A military judge has now set a new timeline, ordering jury selection for the trial of four defendants to commence in June 2028, following the rejection of a previous request to begin proceedings in early 2027.
The four individuals currently slated to stand trial together are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, often identified as the principal architect of the plot, alongside Walid bin Attash, Ammar al-Baluchi—also known as Ali Abdul Aziz Ali—and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. A fifth original defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was removed from the case after a military judge determined he was mentally unfit to participate.
Gordon Felt, president of the Families of Flight 93 and brother of passenger Edward Felt, expressed the deep-seated frustration felt by many relatives of the victims. He emphasized that families have yet to see true accountability or justice, noting that the endless nature of the pre-trial proceedings has compounded their grief over the years. Felt noted that the loss extends beyond the initial attack, citing the hundreds who have died since from illnesses linked to the recovery sites.
The legal path to this point has been marked by significant logistical and structural hurdles. Michael Lebowitz, a former Justice Department national security attorney who spent a decade working on the 9/11 case, described the government’s decision to move away from the federal criminal justice system toward military commissions as a fundamental shift. According to Lebowitz, the government transitioned from a standard law enforcement toolkit to a military option, leading to a hybrid system that Congress and the Supreme Court repeatedly adjusted.
This complexity is reflected in the frequent turnover of judicial oversight. Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Schrama currently serves as the fifth judge to preside over the case since the defendants were first arraigned in 2012. Lebowitz recalled that the initial arraignment itself lasted 13 hours, marking it as the longest in American history.
The case has faced numerous setbacks, including the collapse of a 2009 plan to try the defendants in a federal court in Manhattan. That effort was abandoned after the prosecution of another detainee, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, resulted in acquittals on most charges, leading Congress to restrict the transfer of Guantánamo detainees to the U.S. mainland. Consequently, the proceedings returned to the military commission system at Guantánamo, which Lebowitz characterized as a logistical “traveling circus” that requires the entire court system to relocate via chartered flights from Washington, D.C.
The defense has consistently challenged the admissibility of evidence, particularly statements obtained after the defendants were held in secret CIA custody. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and subjected to an interrogation program involving waterboarding and other coercive measures before his 2006 transfer to Guantánamo. In August, a military judge ruled to exclude statements Mohammed made to the FBI in 2007, concluding the government failed to prove they were voluntary and untainted by prior coercion.
Despite these evidentiary challenges, former prosecutors maintain that sufficient documentation and communications evidence exist to secure a conviction. While the loss of confessions makes the process more difficult, the case is moving forward with the goal of presenting these facts to the court. A potential plea agreement that would have avoided the death penalty was abandoned in 2024, keeping the possibility of capital punishment on the table.
Felt, who supports the pursuit of the death penalty, expressed relief that the case is moving toward a trial date rather than further appeals, which he believes would have caused even greater delays. While the June 5, 2028, start date is now on the docket, the history of the case suggests that the schedule remains subject to the complexities of military-commission litigation and the ongoing rotation of personnel. The report also notes that felt is the brother of Flight 93 passenger Edward Felt and leads efforts to share his story and that of all 40 passengers and crew members who fought back against hijackers. The report also notes that the trials are still in a pre-trial phase at Guantanamo … that’s been dragging on endlessly. The report also notes that with prosecutors seeking charges that include conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism and hijacking, the men are facing the death penalty. The report also notes that commonly referred to as KSM, developed and directed the plot to hijack commercial aircraft, weaponizing them and directing them toward the World Trade Center and Pentagon, prosecutors allege Mohammed. The report also notes that while KSM’s own statements represent key pieces of the U.S. The report also notes that michael Lebowitz offers a rare perspective. The report also notes that also contributing to cases involving the USS Cole bombing and senior al Qaeda figures, the former Justice Department national security attorney and combat veteran spent roughly a decade working on the 9/11 case as a Guantánamo prosecutor. The report also notes that army Cyber Command gave this blunt assessment: The 9/11 case became extraordinarily complicated after the United States chose an extraordinary way to prosecute it.
