It’s been 25 years since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, where nearly 3,000 lives were lost. Families who have been waiting for justice for the alleged masterminds of the attacks are facing a stark reality: they might never see a verdict.
A military judge has earmarked June 5, 2028, for the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind, along with three co-defendants. This trial date is nearly 27 years post-attacks, yet it remains uncertain. Recently, a ruling forbidding prosecutors from using statements that Mohammed made to FBI agents has highlighted the significant legal challenges still ahead.
“It’s like an open wound that hurts even more as anniversaries come around,” John Ryan, a former chief with the Port Authority Police who spent nine months at Ground Zero, shared. He expressed that the drawn-out legal proceedings have frustrated both victims’ families and first responders, as they’ve been mired in a long struggle over evidence that was deemed obtained through torture during CIA custody, a collapsed plea agreement, changes in military judges, and many unresolved pretrial motions.
“Here we are, 25 years later, and I’m still engaged in this because we haven’t yet convicted or brought to justice the five individuals held at Guantánamo Bay,” said Ryan, who later became a commander with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The four defendants are still in U.S. custody after years without a trial, while a fifth, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, is being treated separately due to mental incompetence.
A recent decision by the judge excluded statements made by Mohammed to the FBI in 2007, ruling them influenced by his coercive treatment in custody. The government opted not to appeal this decision to avoid jeopardizing the scheduled trial date.
This trial date is set to provide time for both defense and prosecution to resolve numerous legal disputes, as this has now become a case overseen by five different military judges since the defendants were first arraigned in 2012.
Families of those lost on 9/11 feel the prolonged delays add to their trauma. Sean Passananti, whose father died in the North Tower, reflected on the disconnection with such a grievous crime. “It feels unreal that we have to continue fighting for justice for the worst terror attack on our soil,” he said. Despite his disbelief, he hasn’t missed attending the memorial ceremony except for one year since the attacks.
Another family member, Dennis McGinley, whose brother worked on the South Tower’s 89th floor, noted that these delays keep his family from finding closure. He believes that there’s a significant opportunity for President Trump, or any future leaders, to finally resolve this ongoing tragedy that has turned into a source of embarrassment for the nation.
Ryan, reflecting on his experience, remarked about losing many colleagues during that tragedy. He expected the 9/11 case would be part of his career, but not for this long. “They’ve admitted their guilt, and now it’s just a matter of the process—it’s been 25 years,” he remarked.
The defendants have been in military commissions since their arraignment, and Mohammed has spent almost a decade in U.S. custody. Captured in Pakistan in 2003, he was held in CIA “black sites,” subjected to extreme interrogation methods, until his transfer to Guantánamo in 2006. His treatment remains a major hurdle for the prosecution.
Defense attorneys argue statements made post-torture cannot be considered voluntary, while prosecutors contend that subsequent statements to a “clean team” of FBI agents should be admitted. The latest ruling on excluding Mohammed’s 2007 FBI statements has been a setback and underscores a longstanding issue of separating evidence obtained from coercion.
Compounding the case’s complexity are changes in judges, the pandemic, and a failed plea agreement from 2024, which sought guilty pleas in exchange for life sentences instead of the death penalty. Previous attempts to try the defendants in federal court were scrapped due to significant opposition from New York’s officials over security concerns.
These delays have left those accused aging in a detention center that has cost taxpayers millions without yielding a verdict. The pursuit of justice remains intertwined with a civil lawsuit filed by 9/11 families against Saudi Arabia, aiming to uncover more about the support received prior to the attacks.
If the current schedule holds, the trial would start almost 27 years after the attacks. Ryan believes this prolonged timeline introduces two generations of victims’ families, where children who witnessed the tragedy now face the possibility they may never see justice served. “Our justice system should function timely,” he stated, emphasizing the need for the focus to be on the victims rather than just the accused.
