Expert available to comment on fallout from plea deal with 9/11 masterminds: “There are no winners here”

Three men held at Guantanamo Bay since 2003 who planned and organized the attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania that killed nearly 3,000 people on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, have struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to all charges and avoid a death-penalty trial. 

Tulane University expert Muira McCammon, an assistant professor at the School of Liberal Arts, says the plea deal will suppress vital information from families still looking for closure and public accountability from the U.S. government and continue the troubled legacy of Guantanamo Bay. 

McCammon can discuss:

• The impact of not having a trial for the 9/11 masterminds leaves families without closure and the public without a full accounting of the attacks.
• How this decision highlights ongoing detention at Guantanamo, raising questions about U.S. commitment to due process.
• Gitmo’s legacy underscores tensions between national security and respect for human rights and sovereignty. 

McCammon Quote:

“There are no winners here. Many 9/11 families had hoped that there would be a trial, which might’ve given the public more of an opportunity to digest and reflect upon what Khalid Sheikh Mohammed knew – and the extent of who was involved in coordinating the 9/11 attacks. Many had hoped that these individuals would ultimately be tried in federal court, outside of the grasp of the military commission, which would not have only protected the rights of the detained but might have also reminded the American public that the U.S. is still holding people tied to the terrorist attacks.”    

Contact Roger Dunaway, assistant director of media relations, for interviews at [email protected].