9/11 'mastermind' KSM to go on trial more than a quarter-century after terror attacks

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, finally has a trial date, a judge ruled Wednesday. KSM, as he's known, will go on trial on June 5, 2028.

Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama, a military judge, issued the ruling Wednesday, just weeks before the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attack on U.S. soil. Schrama is the fifth judge to preside over the case, which has had tentative trial dates that have always been canceled for a bevy of legal reasons. Federal prosecutors requested that the trial begin in January 2027, but Schrama scheduled the date for early June the following year due to an abundance of pre-trial hearings, according to The New York Post. A possibility for further delays still exists.

KSM is believed to be in his early 60s and has been held at a military base in Guantanamo, Cuba, since 2006. He was captured by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2003. He grew up in Kuwait and went to college in the U.S., graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1986, seven years before he played a fundraising role in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. In the ensuing years, he developed a relationship with Osama bin Laden, who continued to harbor a desire to attack the World Trade Center again.

The report filed by the 9/11 commission described KSM as the “principal architect” and “chief manager of 'the planes operation'” of the terror attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. KSM reportedly described himself as the "mastermind" of the plot, although defend lawyers say he made that statement while being tortured. He will face the death penalty along with three suspected accomplices -- Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi.

Their case came close to being closed in 2024 when they nearly reached a plea deal that would've allowed them to avoid the death penalty. After a revolt by some of the 9/11 families, then-defense secretary Lloyd Austen rejected the deal. 

The 9/11 attacks, killed 2,977 people -- 2,606 were killed at the World Trade Center, 125 were killed in Arlington, Virginia, when commercial jetliners hijacked by Islamic extremists were crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Another 40 passengers and crew were killed when they brought down the hijacked United Flight 93 in western Pennsylvania as the terrorists were aiming it for another target on the East Coast.

Thousands more, including many first responders, have died in the ensuing months and years after 9/11 from injuries and illness related to the events of that day. Others still suffer from injuries and illness brought on by the events of 9/11 and the immediate aftermath.

For more on the story, watch the video below.