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Earlier this week, Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier had signed a pretrial agreement with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The agreement included guilty sentences for life in prison, with the death penalty being completely off the table despite these men being behind the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on 9/11.
On Friday, Austin took direct oversight of the case and canceled the agreement, reinstating the death penalty. In an order released on Friday, Austin explained that due to the high stakes involved, "responsibility for such a decision should rest with me."
“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024,” he wrote.
With the plea deal being upended, military judge Col. Matthew N. McCall will likely resume hearing testimony for the case next week. The case against these suspects was previously set to not have jury selection start before 2026, which means a verdict could be years away. The case has had over a decade of pretrial proceedings, primarily focused on whether the detainees' information given under torture in CIA prisons could be used as evidence, according to the New York Times.
Austin’s decision comes as family members of victims expressed outrage that the death penalty was taken off the table and they weren’t consulted prior to the deal being made. Now, families have vocalized support for Austin's involvement.
“This is a really welcome development,” stated Terry Strada, whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center. “I’m happy to see the Pentagon getting involved. And glad the death penalty is back on the table. Otherwise, how could we be assured some administration would not commute their sentence or swap them in the future?”
An official at the Pentagon added that the decision was not influenced by the White House, per the NYT. The decision rested solely on Austin, who was not supportive of the plea deal and wanted the military commission trials to continue.
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