22 years later, 9/11 families are still fighting for justice 

We have reached the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a day we said collectively as a nation that we would “never forget.” And yet, while we face memories from that harrowing day that left a permanent scar on thousands of families and the very soul of our nation, the U.S. government considered a plea agreement for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and four other 9/11 plotters detained at Guantanamo Bay. While the Biden administration last week rejected a list of proposed conditions sought by the five men, decreasing the likelihood of a plea agreement, that such a shameful agreement was even considered is part of the history of choosing evasiveness over truth and secrecy over transparency when it comes to those responsible for the attacks. 

For 22 years, 9/11 families, survivors and first responders have been fighting for truth, accountability and closure. We are fighting for justice through litigation against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its role in the murderous attacks that led to the deaths of my father and thousands of others. Our battle has been a tiring one, marked by struggles with our own government and its agencies as they withhold information and documents vital to our fight for justice.

To this day, our government still fights us, the victims of the worst attack on American soil, and to this day there has been no administration that has chosen the 9/11 families over geopolitical interests.

The previously proposed plea agreements with KSM and the four other 9/11 plotters only intensify our bewilderment and deepen our pain. These agreements would have eliminated the public trials of the five detainees, meaning that key information the government provided to the plotters’ legal teams, and vice versa, would have remained hidden from the public.

This bears repeating. The United States government has provided documents and evidence to the terrorists and their lawyers that are the same documents and evidence the United States government has denied the 9/11 families.

Many members of the 9/11 community, including myself, believed these plea deals, and any step that would allow the accused plotters to avoid a public trial, would have been a travesty that served only to further hide the truth about who was involved in the planning and execution of the attacks.

Our opposition to these agreements had nothing to do with whether these plotters deserve a life sentence or the death penalty. It had everything to do with our belief in a public trial — no matter what that may reveal or whom that may embarrass. The plea deals help our government to continue hiding the truth.

Last month, more than 2,000 9/11 family members, survivors and first responders signed a letter to President Biden opposing the plea agreements for these five 9/11 plotters. While the recent move by the administration to reject the plea deals signals that it may have heard our outcry, we must be vigilant that a modified plea does not happen when the cameras are off and the attention of the 9/11 anniversary has faded.

We continue to urgently plead for the release of all evidence and the prioritization of the interests of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. We demand transparency, justice and closure — not distractions or coverups.

The transparency we are seeking extends beyond these five 9/11 plotters. Since Biden’s efforts to declassify evidence through his September 3, 2021, executive order, the Department of Justice and the FBI have continued to withhold evidence crucial to our legal fight against Saudi Arabia from both us and the public at large. We know there are pieces to this puzzle out there, including phone records, reports and other evidence that will prove that the Kingdom helped, facilitated, funded and orchestrated the attacks.

Our anger at the continued withholding of information by these agencies only grows, knowing that they block evidence from us, the victims, but not from the criminals, such as the 9/11 plotters and their legal teams. The selective sharing of information that is convenient for our government’s own interests is not enough. 

On the 22nd anniversary of the day our lives were forever changed, we feel the weight of a nation that seems to care the most only for a single day of remembrance. Our appeal today is the same as it always has been: for complete transparency from our government, accountability for all those responsible and justice for our loved ones. The past two decades have exposed many painful truths, and this fight has not been easy — but we will never give up. 

Brett Eagleson lost his father, Bruce Eagleson, on 9/11 and is an advocate for many 9/11 community members.