Three terrorists accused of helping orchestrate the 9/11 attacks will avoid the death penalty after the Pentagon’s challenge to their sweetheart plea deal was smacked down by a military appeals court judge.
The ruling capped off a five-month, whiplash-inducing saga and came as a blow to victims’ families who have been holding out hope for justice for nearly a quarter-century.
“We are 100 percent against the plea deal. The whole process has been a disaster,” said Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son, Christian, was killed responding to the attacks in NYC told The Post.
Regenhard, a member of 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters and World Trade Center victims, added she felt the terrorists “should have been tried at the scene of the crime” in Manhattan federal court, just blocks from Ground Zero.
Under the deal — first reported on by The Post July 31 — Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi agreed to plead guilty to war crimes in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table.
All three men have been held at the Guantanamo Bay US military prison since 2003.
The deal would ensure they live out their lives behind bars but spares them the ultimate punishment.
The ruling enraged victims’ loved ones when news broke over the summer, who felt death was the only just punishment for perpetrating the worst terror attack in US history.
“This plea deal is atrocious. It’s salt added to the wound. If anybody deserves the death penalty, these terrorists do. They should have been executed years ago,” said Jim McCaffrey, a retired FDNY lieutenant whose brother-in-law, Battalion Chief Orio Palmer, died after reaching the 78th floor of the south tower.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave families a glimmer of hope when he revoked the shocking plea deals three days after it was revealed.
However, on Nov. 6 a military judge ruled that Austin lacked the authority to scupper the plea agreements, which he said “remained valid and enforceable.”
Austin remained steadfast, pledging just days later the Pentagon would fight to delay the guilty plea hearings as long as possible, appealing the judge’s ruling to the US Court of Military Commission Review.
However, in a 21-page ruling issued Monday night, the appeals court ruled against Austin after the terrorists’ defense attorneys argued that the secretary did not have the authority to overturn the agreements struck by the Office of Military Commissions.
“Taking the death penalty off the table is deeply disturbing and unjust and unfair. These terrorists were responsible for killing nearly 3,000 people and thousands of others later from the toxic dust from the collapsed buildings,” said Maureen Santora, whose firefighter son, also named Christian, died on 9/11.
“These people are not remorseful. When we first went to Guantanamo Bay, these terrorists turned around to us and said, ‘We’d do it again,’” said Santora, whose husband, Al, is a retired FDNY fire chief.
She said she was gobsmacked by the fact the deals were ever offered in the first place.
“We were not consulted about this plea agreement. If these people aren’t eligible for the death penalty, then who is?”
Others said the terrorists’ plea deals were part and parcel with President Biden’s unprecedented clemency spree, in which he commuted nearly 1,500 sentences in a single day two days before Christmas.
“I’m not surprised. This is part of Biden’s MO. He released murderers and rapists, people on death row. He will do a lot more damage before [Jan.] 20th. It’s crazy that this is still going. The whole country should feel let down,” retired NYPD cop Jim Smith told The Post.
Smith wasn’t the only 9/11 family member who directed their outrage at Biden — who was sunning himself in the US Virgin Islands as the plea deal that will spare the life of three terrorists was restored.
“Biden is pardoning criminals. Terrorists are allowed to live with representation, but who is representing the thousands of people who died on 911,” said Maggie McDonnell-Tiberio, widow of NYPD officer Brian McDonnell, who was killed in the attacks.
“I don’t feel like our government is representing me and the others. I am angry and have lost patience with our justice system. These animals need to be punished. Twenty-three years ago I promised my kids that the people responsible for killing their father and thousands of other innocent people would be punished. When will this happen now?”
NYC PBA President Patrick Hendry told The Post that the review court’s ruling was “another travesty of justice” for 9/11 victims and their families.
“The Defense Department made a serious error in even entertaining these shameful plea agreements. They need to press forward with the appeal in order to fix their mistake and deliver real justice for our hero families who have already suffered too much.”
In a post on X Tuesday, New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler, who introduced a bill in August that would bar the government from entering into any similar plea agreements with terrorists in the future, blasted the decision to reinstate the plea deals.
“This is an abomination. The fact that Joe Biden allowed these plea deals to happen on his watch is unforgivable. Nearly 3,000 families will never be the same because of 9/11 – they have the right to see those responsible for their suffering face the death penalty,” he wrote.
The agreements were originally signed by Pentagon official Susan K. Escallier, whom Austin appointed to be in charge of military commissions.
Austin still retains the ability to appeal the decision. Reps for the Pentagon did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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