Conflict · Guantanamo trial9/11 Mastermind Trial Finally Set for June 2028 After 20 YearsAired August 27, 2026 at 3:11 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00The alleged mastermind of 9-11 finally has a trial date.0:03Nearly 3,000 people were killed, and more than two decades later, no jury has heard0:07the case.0:08Now, a military judge says that courtroom opens in June 2028 at Guantanamo Bay,0:13Cuba.0:14Will the evidence the government calls crucial even be allowed, and will the death0:18penalty still be on the table when it does?0:20That number is the anchor for everything that follows.0:23Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, described in one0:27account as nearly 3,000 Americans.0:29As of late August 2026, the new trial date lands about two weeks before the 25th0:34anniversary.0:35The order restarts the most delayed prosecution in modern American history.0:40A military judge set June 2028 for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, described as the alleged0:45chief conspirator and mastermind, and three other alleged accomplices and0:48co-conspirators.0:49The trial will not be in federal court.0:51It will be in the military commission system, a separate structure created for0:55Guantanamo detainees with different rules for evidence, jury, and death penalty0:59decisions.1:00All four men are scheduled together there.1:02The record does not detail the names or specific charges for the three others.1:06The path explains why June 2028 is nearly 27 years after the attacks and more than1:1125 years after the capture.1:13Mohammed was seized in Pakistan in 2003, waterboarded in CIA custody, and1:17transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.1:20One description counts him as held at Guantanamo for 20 years, a figure that aligns1:24with the late August 2026 vantage point alongside the 2006 transfer date.1:29A trial date set in 2021 was later canceled when the judge retired and pandemic1:33travel restrictions blocked proceedings.1:35The central fight will decide what any jury hears.1:38Prosecutors say Mohammed's statements to the FBI are crucial evidence.1:42The defense says those statements were tainted by torture in CIA custody, including1:46waterboarding, and cannot be admitted.1:49Whether an FBI interview can be separated from what happened earlier in CIA custody1:53is unresolved, and it determines whether the government can sustain a capital case.1:57The death penalty question turns on two figures.2:00Mohammed remains the alleged mastermind.2:03In 2024, the government agreed he could plead guilty for a life sentence rather than2:07risk the death penalty and be spared execution.2:10Two days later, then Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected that agreement, also2:15described as revoked a few years ago, leaving the death penalty on the table and2:19forcing the admissibility fight back to litigation.2:21Time is now fixed, but longer than the government wanted.2:24The June 2028 setting is about 18 months later than prosecutors had hoped, extending2:28by a year and a half the wait for families for testimony, cross-examination, and2:32verdict.2:33COVID-19 is cited as a factor contributing to delays with no additional cause2:38specified beyond that, and the earlier retirement and travel restrictions.2:42The open question from the start now has its answer in parts.2:45What is known, a date, a place, a system, and a capital prosecution?2:49What remains unknown is whether the disputed statements will be admitted, whether a2:54new plea replaces the 2024 deal rejected two days later, who exactly the three other2:59alleged co-conspirators are, what exact day in June 2028 proceedings begin, and how3:04commission rules will govern evidence, jury, and the death penalty decision at an3:08isolated naval base that already saw a cancellation for a judge's retirement and3:12pandemic limits.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗