Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a plea deal agreement reached earlier this week with the mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two accomplices.
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,…
