9/11 suspect guilty

last updated 8 January 2015

Alexandria, Va.

Zacarias Moussaoui has pleaded guilty to conspiring to carry out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A month before the attacks, Moussaoui was arrested for immigration violations when authorities discovered he had tried to learn how to fly Boeing jets but had indicated that he wouldn’t need to take off or land. After 9/11, investigators dubbed him the “20th hijacker.” Despite his plea, Moussaoui insisted he had no role in the 9/11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. He said he was involved in a separate plan to crash a plane into the White House. The judge did not set a date to decide his penalty—death, or life in prison. As Moussaoui was led from court last week, he shouted, “God curse America!”