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March 15th, 2025 September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows were chosen as a charity partner, along with Doctors Without Borders, for this year's DONT WALK 2025 Charity Fashion show. Project Director, Elizabeth Miller attended the fashion show on behalf of Peaceful Tomorrows, " "It was wonderful to meet our DONT WALK partners and see their dedicated goal of creating a more positive world come to life through such an artistic expression during the fashion show."  Wylie Suyin Churchill of the DONT WALK's writing team interviewed Elizabeth for their DONT WRITE blog. To read more, click here . To learn more about DONT WALK, see below, or visit their website . DONT WALK: In the aftermath of 9/11, DONT WALK was established by a group of international students at the University of St Andrews who sought to respond to the harrowing attacks from thousands of miles away. At its core, DONT WALK originates in the desire to come together in the face of unspeakable injustice and adversity throughout the world. Our main goal, since our inception was, and still is, to make a positive impact on the world. DONT WALK was founded on the principle of not walking past problems in society, but instead taking action through artistic expression to raise awareness of global issues. We refuse to remain complacent during times of discrimination, oppression and adversity .

February 20, 2025 Peaceful Tomorrows Statement on Deportation of Migrants to Guantanamo September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization of 9/11 family members acutely aware of the legal purgatory and morass known collectively as ‘Guantanamo’.  Following the transfer of detainees from around the world in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, novel legal proceedings constructed at Guantanamo have frustrated our attempts to obtain justice and accountability for the crimes committed on September 11th for over 23 years. The Trump Administration is now replicating a costly, risky and unnecessary practice by disappearing migrants from American soil to legal limbo at Guantanamo. This continues the legacy of eroding the Rule of Law – both at Guantanamo and within the continental United States. The reasons to send any human being to Guantanamo are clear: to deny unalienable rights, keep a person incommunicado, instill fear, and to thwart an established system of legal processes here on the mainland United States. Guantanamo is a resource for the weak and cowardly. For an Administration whose stated goal is government efficiency, flying migrants to Guantanamo and setting up a whole new shadow prison for 30,000 people is an abominable waste of taxpayer dollars. It already costs taxpayers more than half a Billion dollars per year to imprison fifteen long term detainees. Imprisoning thousands of migrants at Guantanamo will come at enormous cost. Further, the language of fear has been echoing in the camps at Guantanamo and the courtrooms and newsrooms in America for decades. From “the worst of the worst” in 2002, to “detain the worst criminal aliens threatening the American people,” in 2025. Over 750 of those original “worst of the worst” were released from Guantanamo having never been charged with any wrongdoing. Moving migrants into a proven failed process is an egregious mistake. For the reasons above, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows condemns the transfer of migrants from U.S. soil to Guantanamo. We call on the current Administration to halt this practice, and work with the U.S. Congress on humane and just migration policy.

We Met Our Matching Fund!  We are proud to inform you that we were able to fully match the $50,000.00 Matching Grant.     In December 2024, we witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of financial generosity from you, our members and our supporters.     Thank you to all who donated so generously!  You made it possible for us to keep going.      The message you sent is clear: We must continue following our mission to inspire the next generation with lessons learned by us after 9/11/'01 that are still relevant today and will serve us as we face the new year. Our struggle continues and our message of countering violence with nonviolence, opposing military solutions to conflict, of pursuing justice for those detained at Guantanamo and defending human rights for all.     Because of you, we will continue to raise our voices as we face the challenges ahead.      Thank You For Your Vision, Generosity And Support!                                             From the Rule of Law Committee:       Members of the Rule of Law Committee traveled to Guantánamo the second week of January expecting to witness Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plead guilty to planning and supporting the 9/11 terrorist attacks , as part of a pre-trial agreement (PTA). However, on the evening before his scheduled plea, the DC Circuit Court issued an administrative stay (a temporary pause), bringing our goal of judicial finality to yet another agonizing delay. For more details about the week, see our post, " More Confusion, Delay, and Family Member Anguish in the 9/11 Guantanamo Military Commission Case ."       The DC Circuit Court heard oral arguments on January 28th on whether or not to issue a writ of mandamus  as requested by the Department of Justice that would nullify the PTAs for Mr. Mohammed and two other 9/11 defendants. A  writ of mandamus would reverse rulings by the 9/11 judge and the review court that upheld his ruling that the PTAs are binding and recognize former Secretary of Defense Austin’s revocation of the PTAs.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            With the help of pro bono attorneys, Nick Lewin and Ben Perotin, Peaceful Tomorrows members joined with other 9/11 victim family members (VFMs) who are not part of our organization to file an amicus brief with the DC Circuit Court, where we shared our perspectives in support of PTAs in the 9/11 case. To read the brief, please click  here .       We are now waiting to hear how the judges in the DC Circuit Court will rule. Peaceful Tomorrows will continue to advocate for judicial finality in the 9/11 case, which we firmly believe can only be achieved through PTAs that include sentences that cannot be appealed.       On a parallel track, in the Guantánamo military commissions, Judge McCall heard final arguments regarding suppression for 9/11 defendant Ammar al-Baluchi, who currently has no PTA. Suppression, or the disqualification of statements made by defendants to FBI “clean teams” who interrogated the 9/11 defendants following their torture in CIA black sites, has been the central issue in the 9/11 case for nearly 13 years. Judge McCall has suggested he will rule on suppression within a month's time. For detailed background and analysis, read John Ryan, “Judge Set to Rule on Admissibility of 9/11 Confessions.” Coincidentally, the Court of Military Commissions Review just upheld a ruling by the judge in the USS Cole case, that the confessions the defendant, Mr. Nashiri, made to his FBI “clean team” are not admissible in a trial.

January 27th, 2025 For more information, you can contact: Terry Rockefeller - terrykayrockefeller@gmail.com Colleen Kelly - colleenkelly2014@gmail.com Elizabeth Miller - elizabeth@peacefultomorrows.org / 845-754-1762 Members of Peaceful Tomorrows have long pursued pre-trial agreements (PTAs) in the 9/11 military commission at Guantanamo where Khalid Sheik Mohammed and the other four men accused of planning and supporting the 9/11 terrorist attacks have been in pre-trial hearings for nearly 13 years.   On January 28th, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear oral arguments as the government seeks to nullify PTAs that three of the defendants, including Mr. Mohammed, the “mastermind” of the attacks, signed in July of 2024. Peaceful Tomorrows, and other 9/11 victim family members, with the support of pro bono attorneys, Nick Lewin and Ben Perotin, filed an  amicus brief  with the D.C. court stating our opposition to the government’s position. We argue:   1.     Nullifying the PTAs would be contrary to our justice system’s core value of finality and would only result in this matter being further delayed, resulting in further legal purgatory for family members. 2.     Second, through the extensive sentencing proceedings provided by the Military Commission, the PTAs robustly provide the type of public confrontation with the defendants and presentation of evidence for the historical record that the government claims to support. 3.     Third, the government’s attempt to withdraw the PTAs lacks legal precedent. The closest analogy in civilian criminal justice might be the withdrawal of a guilty plea by a defendant, an exceptional occurrence. To read & download the full brief:

January 14th, 2025 On Wednesday January 8th, three members of Peaceful Tomorrows who had traveled to the military commission hearings at the Guantanamo Naval Base, Colleen Kelly, Elizabeth Miller and Terry Rockefeller, heard Khalid Shaik Mohammad's attorney, Gary Sowards, tell the trial judge in open court that Mr. Mohammad was prepared to admit to his guilt in planning and supporting the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  From the hearing transcript :   Judge McCall: "So first, can you confirm that Mr. Mohammad is pleading guilty to all charges and specifications without exceptions or substitutions?"  Mr. Gary Sowards: "Yes, we can, Your Honor." We believe that had the judge been able to question Mr. Mohammad in open court, as was scheduled for Friday, January 10th, 9/11 victim family members would have received a degree of justice and accountability for the murder of our family members. The finality of a guilty plea in the 9/11 military commission means there will not be an appeal. However, on the evening of Thursday, January 9th, the DC Circuit Court issued an administrative stay in the pre-trial proceedings, bringing the possibility of finality to yet another agonizing delay.  During the week, we had the opportunity to communicate with both the prosecution and defense teams. They agree that a pre-trial agreement in the 9/11 case is the best path to finality.  Perhaps the most important thing we learned was that the pre-trial agreements would NOT mean that there would be no trial. A “sentencing hearing” or “sentencing trial” would last for several months, and would likely take place sometime in 2026. The sentencing trial would in fact provide more evidence than a contested death penalty trial, because as part of the pre-trial agreements, the defendants will now allow all of the previously contested evidence obtained by FBI investigators to be revealed in court. Additionally, the pre-trial agreements include signed stipulations of fact, from each of the three defendants who have thus far signed agreements. These stipulations detail who did what, when, where, how, and why concerning the planning and support of the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 victim family members, and the  public will learn extensive evidence of their guilt. Members of Peaceful Tomorrows continue to believe that pre-trial agreements are the only means to end the legal purgatory we have experienced in the 9/11 proceeding, which will soon begin their thirteenth year. We agree with Admiral Rugh and the prosecution team who, on July 31st, wrote to victim family members, “it is our collective, reasoned, and good-faith judgment that this resolution is the best path to finality and justice in this case.” They continued, "f ollowing the entry of the guilty pleas, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled where the parties will have an opportunity to present evidence and argue for an appropriate sentence." In court on Wednesday, January 8th, Managing Trial Counsel Clay Trivett shared more about what a sentencing trial would look like:  We envision a several-month presentation with all of this evidence to establish the historical record. That was always our intention.… There’s now hundreds of people that are now interested and on the list of those who our Victim/Witness Assistance Program reaches out to on a daily basis for updates that we're going to now talk to and determine whether or not they do want to give any victim impact testimony, whether that's in a video form, whether that's in written form. But Thursday’s announcement of an administrative stay by the DC Circuit Court brought more uncertainty to the 9/11 case, and with it continued confusion, disappointment and trauma, to both the victim family members present at Guantanamo, and around the globe. More than 23 years after the death of our loved ones, and after nearly 13 years of pre-trial hearings, the members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows believe it is time to convict the defendants and ensure that they do not die innocent in the eyes of the law.

"Federal judge delays 9/11 deals that would have found terror mastermind guilty" Michael Loria January 10th, 2025 Peaceful Tomorrows member, Elizabeth Miller, was quoted in an article written by Michael Loria for USA Today. To read the full article, click here . Instead, on Thursday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered an administrative stay on the case. The stay gives the court more time to review the issue before deciding if the deals can proceed. It’s unclear how long the review will take. It comes a day after attorneys for Mohammed, often called KSM, and lieutenants Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid Bin Attash had told a judge that their clients were fully prepared to plead guilty. “That was really remarkable to see he’s willing to do that,” said Elizabeth Miller of Mohammed’s commitment to plead guilty this week. Miller lost her father, Douglas Miller , a firefighter in 9/11. “It was just unfortunate that it’s not legally binding and then we had the stay, so it’s back to total pause.” The family members will have to return home with the case still up in the air. Justice feels long overdue for those who lost loved ones in 9/11 and many view the plea agreements as the only way to proceed. The torture the men experienced at the hands of CIA operatives has made some evidence against them inadmissible in court . Miller was among about 10 family members of victims to take the special charter flight down to the base in Cuba to hear proceedings. She and many others were also hoping to get a chance to ask Mohammed and the others questions about the terrorist strikes as part of the guilty plea agreements.  “I thought I would get to hear the man who came up with the plan to kill my dad, the man responsible for the idea to kill all these people, admit guilt,” she told USA TODAY. “I thought I would hear that from his mouth.” It’s expected the court will not make any further decisions regarding the case until at least next month, said Ron Flesvig, a spokesperson for the Office of Military Commissions. The case will instead be left to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump .  “That could derail this even further, which is disheartening,” Miller said. “It’s so frustrating and sad that it’s almost comical because if you can't laugh at some dysfunction you would just sit and cry.” They have grown old at Guantanamo since then. Miller described their underwhelming appearance in court this week. Hawsawi sits in a special chair due to a prolapsed anus from CIA torture , she said. “You think they’re going to be monsters,” she said, “and they really just look like men, men who’ve been imprisoned for a long time.”

"A contentious push to wrap up the 9/11 prosecutions takes an emotional toll on victims’ families" By Jennifer Peltz JAN. 9, 2025 To read the full article, click here . Before the court put the plea deals on hold, Elizabeth Miller drove 5 1/2 hours in a looming winter storm to catch a military flight to Guantanamo in hopes of seeing Mohammed’s plea in person. After several previous journeys to the arid, isolated military base to see him and other aging defendants sit through one pretrial hearing after another, she came to expect dysfunction and disappointment from the military commission. But she was excited to make the trip this time — and then crestfallen when the plea deals were halted. “I really, truly believe this is the only way this will ever end,” Miller said by phone from Guantanamo. She was 6 when the 9/11 attacks killed her firefighter father, Douglas Miller. She now leads a group of 9/11 families who support the plea deal and oppose any death penalty for the accused, and she noted that evidence would be presented during the sentencing phase.

Support Us on #GivingTuesday Your donation will be doubled!   This Giving Tuesday, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is excited to share that any and all donations pledged by December 31st, 2024 will be matched up to $50,000! We are extremely grateful for our matching donors. Peaceful Tomorrows is at a pivotal point in our advocacy and your donations are needed now more than ever.  Please consider donating to Peaceful Tomorrows today so we can continue our advocacy to create a more just and peaceful world. In a recent Op-Ed piece published in the Washington Post, PT member Chanel Shum writes: "There is no playbook for grief, especially grief that stems from mass violence. All I know is that I don’t want any other family to experience what mine has. My grandparents, who had already buried two children who died in separate tragedies, had to add a third grave for my father, even though there were no remains to bury..." CLICK HERE to read the entire opinion piece. In a USA Today article two of our members share about what plea deals mean to them and what questions they might ask the 9/11 accused. " ..The proposed plea deal would allow the thousands of people who lost loved ones in the attacks to submit their questions to the terrorists' attorneys via an encrypted online portal, according to a letter from the federal Office of Military Commissions. The al-Qaeda operatives have agreed to respond to the questions within 90 days of receiving them, according to the letter, which was sent to 9/11 surviving family members. It's unclear if the three defendants will answer in written form or aloud in court at Guantanamo Bay where the federal government regularly flies families to watch court proceedings... " CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE.

Dec. 4th, 2024 Durbin Makes Urgent Plea For Defense Secretary Austin To Reconsider His Revoking Of Guilty Plea Deal For Accused September 11th Plotters To read the full press release from Senator Durbin, please click here . Excerpt: Durbin has chaired two hearings on Guantanamo Bay over the past 11 years and followed these developments for more than two decades. In December 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Ms. Colleen Kelly, who shared the painful experience of watching many other 9/11 family members pass away without justice or closure. Ms. Kelly’s brother, Bill Kelly, was killed in the North Tower that fateful day. She pleaded with Congress to ensure that the remaining family members see some measure of accountability before their own deaths. Durbin then shared the latest, heart-wrenching update from Ms. Kelly, writing: “As the news broke that prosecutors in the 9/11 case had secured guilty pleas from three of the defendants on July 31, Colleen’s mother JoAnne was in hospice care. Colleen was able to reassure her that the family had done right by Bill. Colleen did not have the heart to tell her that you reversed the guilty pleas two days later. JoAnne Kelly passed away on August 6th with the ongoing lack of finality only compounding the Kelly family’s immeasurable loss.”

November 18th, 2024 Chanel Shum Link to the full article here . Sept. 11, 2001, was my first day of preschool, the start of my education. That morning, my father, See Wong Shum, went to work on the 82nd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center — and never came home. I imagine that learning about terrorism and loss was never meant to be part of my first-day curriculum. Nor, 23 years later, was attending pretrial hearings at Guantánamo Bay for those accused of plotting the attacks part of any life plan I had envisioned. Like many, I assumed that justice had been served long ago. Instead, I confronted a reality tangled in legal red tape, endless delays and violations of the rule of law. It’s a reality that could be ended by plea agreements. But that possibility, too, has become mired in controversy and legal wrangling. In April, I joined other relatives of 9/11 victims on a military charter to the U.S. naval base in Cuba through a government-sponsored program allowing us to witness the legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrators. For a week, we sat behind three layers of bulletproof glass, looking directly at Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the attacks. Watching him, I recalled the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which my father had also been through, and other events for which Mohammed claimed responsibility. I thought about how my family’s life had been changed forever. And yet, I felt uncomfortable with a justice system that allowed years of indefinite detention without trial, which I saw as antithetical to both the rule of law and my core values. One defense attorney told us, “There must be justice before there is peace.” I’m still waiting for both. Over the past 12 years, more than 400 family members, eight judges, and countless lawyers have passed through these pretrial hearings. Yet there’s still no official trial date in sight for Mohammed or any of the four others accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks. In late July,  plea agreements were approved  for Mohammed and two others. Since then, I’ve been going through whiplash as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the deals  less than 48 hours later , a court ruled them valid in early November, and the  Pentagon quickly appealed that decision . Despite watching the legal teams at Guantánamo move at what they called a “breakneck pace,” it is difficult to have faith in a system that has charged or convicted of war crimes only 11 of the nearly 800 men who were detained at the base over two decades. I agree with many human rights activists and other victim family members who support plea deals, as well as the 9/11 prosecutors who  wrote of the agreements , “It is our collective, reasoned, and good-faith judgment that this resolution is the best path to finality and justice.” Although 9/11 family members are a large group with divergent views, we can all agree that the case has taken far too long. Plea agreements will guarantee irreversible sentences for each of the detainees before 2026, as opposed to a trial, which could add years of appeals and still ultimately be overturned in federal court. Under the proposed plea terms, the accused would acknowledge responsibility for the deaths of thousands, answer any questions family members have, waive their rights to appeal and face life imprisonment. There is no playbook for grief, especially grief that stems from mass violence. All I know is that I don’t want any other family to experience what mine has. My grandparents, who had already buried two children who died in separate tragedies, had to add a third grave for my father, even though there were no remains to bury. They passed away before any resolution was reached, as have many others who deserved to see a judicial outcome within their lifetime. It’s impossible to bring back those we’ve lost or to undo the cycle of violence that followed — the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Islamophobia and the countless lives impacted by fear and conflict. What I can hope for is finality — something that plea agreements would deliver. As my group departed Guantánamo on Saturday, I watched three people leap off the ferry dock into the blue waters of Guantánamo Bay. “It’s a tradition,” someone explained, “a way to mark your final departure from the island.” I long for that moment — the day the case is closed and the ferry peels away from the island for the very last time, and the base becomes smaller and smaller until it fades into the distance. I long for that day for everyone involved. I don’t know yet whether I’ll ever have children, or what their first day of school might look like. But I hope, if I do have any, that when I tell them about their grandfather, the story will have a better conclusion than it has today. And that when they learn about loss, they will learn about justice alongside it.

Peaceful Tomorrows members Elizabeth Miller and Terry Rockefeller featured in USA Today article by Michael Loria. November 11th, 2024 To read the full article, click here . Our excerpts: What would you say to the 9/11 terrorists who killed your father? The question sounds theoretical and unrealistic, an opportunity that could never happen. But some survivors of 9/11 victims may soon get that improbable chance after 23 years waiting for justice.  Elizabeth Miller, whose father Douglas Miller, a firefighter, died on 9/11 , knows what she would ask. “Do they have regrets? Do they wish things happened different? If they had the opportunity would they do it again? Or would they think about it twice?” Plea deals that prosecutors negotiated with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his al-Qaeda conspirators could soon give survivors of the attacks and relatives of victims the chance to finally confront the terrorist operatives. For several 9/11 family survivors, even the possibility of asking questions is a long-awaited goal they hope can bring some closure and understanding of the motivations behind 9/11. Miller heads 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group that has advocated for the chance to ask the terrorists questions before they are allowed to walk out of the courtroom. The first question she and many family members have: How do the terrorists feel about the attacks today? “Did they think this was the most successful thing they ever did? Because what happened was more war, more violence,” Miller told USA TODAY. Other victims’ relatives fear either they or the al-Qaeda operatives will die before a trial happens. They want the chance to speak directly to KSM and the others to provide closure that has eluded them for decades. Terry Rockefeller, a retired documentary filmmaker who lost her only sister on 9/11, hopes to voice some of her lingering questions about how the attacks were planned. She wants to know, for example, at what point the three terrorists knew the Twin Towers were targets if they knew at all. She says the chance to ask questions represents the only opportunity she may ever have to put 9/11 behind her. But more importantly, she sees questioning the trio as her only chance to make her sister’s killers understand the pain they caused. "They deprived me of my sister," Rockefeller said. "How are they feeling being deprived of their families?"

Peaceful Tomorrows Supports Plea Agreements & Judicial Finality in the Case Against the 9/11 Accused Contact: Peaceful Tomorrows  (845) 754-1762 November 7th, 2024 On September 11, 2001, members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows each lost a beloved family member. Today, 23 years later, we welcome news that Judge Matthew McCall has ruled that pre-trial agreements with three of the 9/11 defendants are valid. Here’s what the plea agreements offer: Judicial finality and an end to the trial Guilty pleas  from the accused Stipulations of fact  by each defendant, already agreed to by the prosecution, the defense and the Convening Authority There will still be a ‘mini trial,’ as part of the defendants’ sentencing, where evidence is presented;  this will likely last several months. An opportunity for 9/11 families   to ask questions  of the accused (indirectly) which they must answer truthfully The accused waive any right to appeal Life in prison  without possibility of parole (confirmed for KSM; likely for the other accused) More than 12 years after the defendants were arraigned, the prosecution recognized with great integrity that plea agreements offered an end to the legal purgatory 9/11 families have been living through. The Convening Authority, Brigadier General Susan Escallier, agreed and approved three pre-trial agreements in July. The implausibility of a trial ending with death penalty convictions that could withstand appeal had by then become widely recognized. Equally alarming was the possibility that the accused might die before a conviction - rendering them ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in the annals of history. Although not the outcome Peaceful Tomorrows’ families had initially advocated for, plea agreements end this long legal nightmare with convictions that provide accountability, protect others from harm, and allow us to spend energy and effort moving forward – having closed this chapter of the past.