It was a whirlwind few days of breaking news out of the Department of Defense, which culminated in Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announcing over the weekend that he was throwing out a plea deal that would’ve seen the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks avoid the death penalty.
On Tuesday, Austin spoke publicly for the first time about that decision. He said the huge number of American lives that were lost, and the horrific attacks themselves, were why he believed the military commission trial needed to proceed as planned.
As he said while attending an event in Maryland with officials from Australia:
“This wasn’t a decision that I took lightly. But, I have long believed that the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commissions, commission trials carried out [in this case].”
The case, which has lasted more than 20 years, looked to finally be coming to a close last week when it was announced that lawyers had come to an agreement on a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other people who are defendants. All are currently being held in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
In total, there are five people who have been accused of hijacking passenger planes on September 11 of 2001, killing almost 3,000 people in Pennsylvania, Washington and New York in the process.
One of the defendants was ruled mentally unfit to face trial last year, while a fourth didn’t agree to the plea agreement.
But, Mohammed and the remaining two defendants had come to a plea agreement that was announced last week, in which they would’ve pleaded guilty in exchange for sentences of life in prison to avoid the death penalty.
Austin announced only a few days later, though, that he was rescinding that plea agreement and moving forward with the trial.
The case is still in the pre-trial hearings. It’s drawn out so long because there are many legal complications, including questions about whether some evidence that was gathered in the case was tainted due to how the defendants were tortured while in CIA custody in the years that immediately followed their capture.
A retired general who was overseeing the military commission approved a plea agreement last week that defense attorneys struck with prosecutors.
Immediately after that announcement was made, though, it was met with backlash, especially from a group of families of some of the 9/11 victims. Many congressional Republicans also slammed the Biden administration for agreeing to the plea deal.
Late last Friday, though, Austin announced he was revoking his approval of the deal, and that he’d personally assume all decision-making authority in the case. As he said:
“There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of 9/11 and the Americans that were murdered that day. Also those who died trying to save lives, and the troops and their families who gave so much for this country.”
Austin himself was a commander of troops in Afghanistan following the attacks, earning a Silver Star for his service during the invasion of Iraq that happened in 2003.
