Biden administration tells 9/11 families that attack mastermind could be spared death penalty 

The Pentagon and FBI have notified among the households of victims of the 9/11 assaults that suspected terrorist mastermind Kalid Sheikh Mohammed and 4 different defendants could possibly be spared the demise penalty beneath plea agreements being thought of by the Biden administration. 

The discover got here within the type of a letter, obtained by the Associated Press, that was despatched to 9/11 households as the federal government explores methods to resolve the greater than decade-long prosecution of the alleged terrorists. 

“The Workplace of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is contemplating getting into into pre-trial agreements,” the letter informs households, including that whereas no plea settlement “has been finalized, and should by no means be finalized, it’s potential {that a} [pre-trial agreement] on this case would take away the potential of the demise penalty.”

The Related Press stories that within the letter, dated Aug. 1, army prosecutors pledge to contemplate the views of the 9/11 households earlier than accepting any plea offers, and the word asks recipients to answer the FBI’s sufferer companies division by Monday with any feedback or questions concerning the potential agreements. 

The case involving Mohammed and the 4 others presently being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been mired in authorized disputes and delays, significantly regarding the “enhanced interrogation strategies” utilized by CIA operatives after the boys have been apprehended. 

Some family of the two,977 individuals killed within the terror assaults expressed outrage over the potential of plea offers being made. 

“How are you going to have any religion in it?” Jim Riches, a retired deputy fireplace chief in New York Metropolis who misplaced his son Jimmy – additionally a firefighter – on Sept. 11, 2001, informed the Related Press concerning the authorities’s replace. 

“Regardless of what number of letters they ship, till I see it, I received’t imagine it,” Riches stated concerning the prospect of justice for his son’s demise, lamenting that “these guys are nonetheless alive. Our kids are lifeless” almost 22 years after the assaults. 

Peter Brady, whose father was killed within the assault, obtained the letter this week and stated that the case “must undergo the authorized course of.”

It’s about “holding individuals accountable, and so they’re taking that away with this plea,” Brady informed the Related Press.

No trial date has been set for the 5 suspected 9/11 conspirators. 

The Trump administration had previously ruled out any plea bargains with the suspected terrorists, who’ve been held on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2006. 

The FBI wouldn’t touch upon the letter when requested by The Submit.