The families of Sept. 11 victims are outraged after the Defense Department revealed on Wednesday it has entered into plea agreements with three alleged terrorists accused of plotting the attacks – one being Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was reportedly the mastermind behind the devastation.
9/11 Justice President Brett Eagleson, who lost his father during the tragic attacks 23 years ago, reacted to the news during “Fox & Friends First,” demanding government officials get to the bottom of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in facilitating the terror.
“It’s just terrible and it’s shocking,” Eagleson told Todd Piro on Thursday. “And just yesterday, I sat with over 500 family members in the Southern District of Federal Court in Manhattan, where we waited 23 years for a trial in that court, and we found out about all the role that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has played. We finally got access to documents that… the FBI and the DOJ has finally shared with us.”
“They cannot put… these animals away and not let them see a trial,” Eagleson said. “America is founded upon the principles of justice. We need a lawsuit. We need a day in court and we need a hearing. You cannot put these individuals away without hearing what they have to say.”
Prosecutors have agreed to plea agreements with three of the masterminds of the Sept. 11 terror attacks who were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the Department of Defense (DOD) said Wednesday.
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, the DOD said.
The terms and conditions of the plea deals were not disclosed, but the terror suspects will be spared the death penalty, three relatives of 9/11 victims were told by the Office of Military Commissions (OMC), the New York Post reported.
But Eagleson insisted unearthing how Saudi Arabia aided the terrorists is critical for the families of 9/11 victims.
“We want to know what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia did,” Eagleson said. “We want to know what they did. Listen, everything that we’ve uncovered said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has played a significant role. We now know that 30 individuals helped Saudi Arabian government officials facilitate and support the 9/11 hijackers. These individuals hold the truth to what actually happened on 9/11.”
“It wasn’t that somehow 19 individuals with no knowledge of English, no experience in Western culture, no money, no idea how to fly a plane, were able to somehow band together and pull off the most devastating and consequential attack in this country’s history without any help from anybody,” he continued.
“And what was uncovered is that they had significant help. They had help in the form of the government of Saudi Arabia.”
The defendants are accused of providing training, financial support and other assistance to the 19 terrorists who hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001.
UNDATED: (FILE PHOTO) Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a suspected al Qaeda terrorist, is shown in this photo released by the FBI on October 10, 2001 in Washington, D.C. (Photo Courtesy of FBI/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in the worst terror attack on U.S. soil in American history. Loved ones of the victims expressed outrage upon hearing news of the deal.
They are slated to be sentenced in Guantánamo Bay on Aug. 5
“Whether they live or die, I don’t really give a crap,” Eagleson said. “That’s for God to judge. If they want to rot away in a jail cell… if they want to be martyrs… then maybe living and rotting away in a jail cell is the way to go, but I don’t really take a position on life or death that’s above my pay grade.”
“I want to know what these individuals know about what the government of Saudi Arabia did to kill my father,” he continued.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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