After news broke that three key figures behind the September 11 attacks will avoid the death penalty through a plea deal, reactions were swift.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, who were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, reached an agreement with Susan Escallier from the Convening Authority for Military Commissions, as announced by the Department of Defense (DOD).
These three individuals are accused of aiding the 19 hijackers with training, financial backing, and other support, leading to the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001.
Upon hearing the news, families of the nearly 3,000 victims expressed anger and disappointment.
“I am very disappointed. We waited patiently for a long time. I wanted the death penalty; the government has failed us,” said Daniel D’Allara, whose twin brother, John, an NYPD officer, was killed in the attacks.
“I feel like I was kicked in the balls,” said Jim Smith, a retired police officer and husband of Moira Smith, the only female NYPD officer who died on 9/11. “The prosecution and families have waited for 23 years to have our day in court to put on the record what these animals did to our loved ones.”
Brett Eagleson, who lost his father, Bruce, at the World Trade Center, described the timing of the plea deal as “sh—y.” He commented, “It’s just another move to wrap up 9/11 and put it in a box and make it go away.”
🚨#ULTIMAHORA🚨El autor intelectual de los ataques a las Torres Gemelas el 11 de Septiembre de 2001, Khalid Shaikh Mohammad se declara culpable de varios cargos tras llegar a acuerdo de culpabilidad con fiscales federales a fin de evitar la pena de muerte. pic.twitter.com/hoNYMgGb4E
— Jorge Flores Nava (@JorgeFNAVA) July 31, 2024
Lawmakers and public officials criticised the Biden administration for the deal.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called the plea deal a “disgrace” and criticised the Biden administration. “Anything short of their execution is a complete and total miscarriage of justice. Time and time again, this administration shows weakness to our adversaries,” he posted on X.
Ohio Senator JD Vance, speaking at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona, condemned the plea deal. “We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them,” he told supporters.
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York City, said, “Their crime merits the ultimate punishment. There should be no plea deal and absolutely no leniency.”
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina stated, “The three defendants have the blood of Americans on their hands. Yet they were apparently allowed to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty, and potentially received a host of other conditions.” He added, “From the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan to broken borders and empowering Iran, the Biden-Harris Administration has been a dream team for terrorists and rogue states like Iran.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana called the deal a “slap in the face” to the victims’ families. “America mourned for weeks afterwards as first responders sifted through the ashes at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site in Shanksville,” he wrote. “For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration.”