The militia leader who masterminded the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi was sentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison.
The sentence handed down to Ahmed Abu Katara, 53, came despite requests by federal prosecutors to sentence him to 60 years in prison. They argued that his original sentence of 22 years was “unreasonably low.”
Katara was convicted in 2017 on four charges, including providing material support to terrorists and destroying U.S. property, but was acquitted of the most serious charge.
On September 11, 2012, four Americans were killed, including the US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, in an attack on a US diplomatic facility and a CIA complex in Benghazi, Libya.
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A man wields a rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames inside the U.S. Consulate General in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. The attack killed four Americans and also targeted a CIA annex about a mile from the consulate. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued the following decision in 2022: 22 years in prison is too long. Katala “considered the seriousness of such an attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility and the district court's own recognition that it is essential to deter such crimes.”
The Justice Department said Khattallah was the leader of the extremist militia Ubaydah bin Jarrah and tried to incite violence against the United States because of its presence in Libya. The group began stockpiling weapons in early 2012 in preparation for carrying out an attack.
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U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith, and CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs Glenn Dougherty and Tyrone Woods were killed in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012. (Fox News)
Militia attacked the consulate on September 11, 2012, setting fire to the premises and breaking into the building. Hours after it began, Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith, and CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs Glenn Dougherty and Tyrone Woods were killed in the fighting.
Benghazi quickly became a polarizing political issue.
Congressional Republicans condemn President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton He was accused of intentionally misleading the public by suggesting that the attack was a reaction to the film “Innocence of Muslims.''
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Several years of parliamentary investigations ensued, but the final report ultimately did not condemn any particular individuals.
