Lt. Col. Michael Schrama set June 5, 2028, for the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three alleged co-defendants, fixing a date in a case that has been stalled for years. Schrama rejected prosecutors' request to begin proceedings in January 2027.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and the case stems from attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. He and the three other defendants have been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2003.
Guantánamo Bay case timeline
The ruling gives the long-delayed case a set courtroom start after years without a trial date. For the defendants, the order means the path to trial now runs through a fixed date rather than an open-ended schedule.
Prosecutors pushed for January 2027, which would have moved the case more than a year earlier than the date Schrama selected. The judge chose June 5, 2028 instead, leaving the prosecution with a longer wait than it sought and signaling that the court accepted a slower timetable.
Sept. 11 terror attacks case
The case remains tied to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, one of the longest-running military proceedings connected to that event. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the three alleged co-conspirators now face a trial date that falls 25 years after they were held at Guantánamo Bay in 2003.
That span shows how long the case has moved without reaching trial. It also sets the next critical point in the case: the June 5, 2028 start date that now governs the courtroom calendar for all four defendants.
