Prosecutors drop Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confession appeal to protect 2028 trial for alleged 9/11 mastermind

Military prosecutors will proceed with the September 11 trial without a central confession, forgoing an appeal of a military judge’s decision to exclude statements made by accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The ruling by Lt. Col. Michael Schrama suppressed Mohammed’s 2007 remarks at Guantanamo Bay, finding they were extracted under “severe coercion” and without access to counsel. Prosecutors told victims’ families in a letter that appealing could risk the June 5, 2028 trial date, which the liaison described as “the hard-earned June 5, 2028, trial date.” The correspondence arrived just before the 25th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000.

Mohammed and three co-defendants—Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ammar al-Baluchi—have been held for nearly two decades while awaiting trial. The government initially planned to use the confession as evidence, but the suppression removes that option.

The case has already unraveled once: Mohammed and two co-defendants accepted a plea deal with the Biden administration in 2024 that would have spared them the death penalty, but public backlash prompted its revocation and spawned further litigation. Separately, victims’ families have urged the Trump administration to declassify records about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the plot.

Military appeals often consume years, a timeline prosecutors say they cannot afford given the lengthy wait for families seeking closure.