In just a few weeks, we will be marking 25 years since the 9/11 attacks. Believe it or not, it will have been 25 years since nearly 3,000 people were murdered.

The accused murderers, however, will finally be going to trial. In June of 2028. What’s another two years after over two decades of waiting?

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, and three alleged co-conspirators will stand trial in 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Michael Schrama set the trial for June 5, 2028, rejecting prosecutors’ request to begin proceedings in January 2027. Mohammed and the three other defendants have been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2003 in the long-delayed case stemming from the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Schrama said the prosecution’s proposed Jan. 11, 2027, trial date did not leave enough time to resolve outstanding pretrial matters.

The scheduling order establishes a series of deadlines and milestones for the case leading up to the June 2028 trial, while leaving existing deadlines governing ongoing pretrial litigation in place.

What can be possibly left to “resolve” after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others have been in custody for over twenty years?? Well, that probably has to do with the fact that KSM and the others are still hoping that the Supreme Court will take up the case so they can get their plea deals reinstated. For those who remember, the Biden administration attempted to give the accused terrorists plea deals that would get rid of the death penalty in August of 2024. The blowback was so loud that then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin actually stepped in to stop the entire plea deal process. An appeals panel at the Pentagon then put the plea deals back in place, right before Joe Biden left office, in January of 2025. The US Court of Appeals for Washington DC finally stopped the chaos, ruling that yes, Lloyd Austin did have the authority to pull back the plea deal offer. The lawyers are now appealing to the Supreme Court, asking them to take up the case. We still have no idea what was offered up in the plea deal, except that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, and Ammar al-Baluchi would have all pled guilty in exchange for escaping the death penalty.

At the time, the 9/11 families and survivors were mixed on the plea deal, with most hating it, but recognizing that this might be all they could get. Now, with a trial date set nearly two years into the future, they are simply frustrated yet again.

Past trial dates have come and gone several times, and Schrama is the fifth judge to oversee the case.

Victims’ families have been outraged that they’ve yet to see justice done, with some relatives telling The Post Wednesday they hope the latest trial date will stand.

“We have been asking for a trial date for 20 years. Hopefully, this time it is for real,” said retired NYPD officer Jim Smith, whose wife Moira Smith died responding to the attacks.

“It’s all going to depend on the judge. We’ve been through so many, some good, but mostly officers who wanted nothing to do with this case,” Smith said. “Someone has to man up and take charge.”

Retired police officer Kathy Vigiano, wife of Det. Joseph Vigiano, who also died on 9/11, questioned why she and other families still needed to wait another two years for potential closure.

“We have waited 25 years. Why do we have to wait another two years?” she said. “How much time do you need for pre-trial? Why can’t they start the trial now? It is time for the victims to get justice now!”

She also wondered if the current judge would still be on the case when the trial date rolls around, and “if not, what happens?”

Retired lieutenant John Ryan, who was the commander of the rescue and recovery task force for Port Authority on 9/11 and the months after, said: “I’m glad they finally picked a date, but two years can be a lifetime for some of the elderly relatives of victims who died that day.

“They would like to see justice in their lifetime.”

That, of course, has been the entire goal of the lawyers involved – stretch out the case long enough that some future administration simply gets tired of it and cuts a plea deal, or outlast the 9/11 families who do deserve justice. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is only in his early 60’s now, and he could live a whole lot longer if the lawyers keep playing their cards well.

If this pisses you off, remember that Abu Mas'ud the Lockerbie/Pan Am 103 bomb maker from back in Dec, 1988, just had his trial postponed again.

Coddling savages is our societal failure. https://t.co/S3oBE96tJ0

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) August 27, 2026

This case should have been wrapped up years ago, with these terrorists convicted and sentenced to death. Of course, even being sentenced to death, even in a military court of justice, isn’t what it once was.

Overdue. https://t.co/XH3uWI5rKC

— cdrsalamander (@cdrsalamander) August 25, 2026

For far too many people, justice has been long delayed and little served. The 9/11 families deserve the chance to see the accused in court, facing evidence. How much longer should they have to wait? There is no guarantee that it will be “only” two more years.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click