Abu Khatallah is facing 18 counts related to the 2012 attack in Benghazi, including murder and providing material support to terrorists. His long-awaited trial began Monday in Washington, D.C.
Federal prosecutors said that Khatallah planned and oversaw the attack, and that he bears responsibility for the four Americans that died on the night of September 11, 2012. Defendants, meanwhile, described Khatallah as a “soft target”—someone the U.S. government could easily blame for the violence at the U.S. mission and CIA annex.
But neither side offered much in the way of the Libyan national’s terrorist affiliations, or those of the other “extremists” involved in or behind the attack—a controversial topic that the defense suggested involved classified information.
On Monday morning, Khatallah, a middle-aged man with a yellowish-gray beard and scraggly white hair, entered the courtroom casually. He wore a rumpled white button down, grayish pants, and dark tennis shoes. The federal D.C. courtroom had little apparent security presence—a marshal in a dark-green T-shirt stood nearby, and a dog was spotted outside.
Assistant U.S. attorney John Crabb opened with a slideshow. The first photo: Ambassador Chris Stevens. “Choked to death by thick black smoke.” Then a photo of State Department official Sean Smith. “Choked to death by thick black smoke.” And security contractor Glen Doherty, who was killed at the nearby CIA annex. “Blown apart by a mortar.” Then Tyrone Woods. “Blown apart by a mortar.”
“Why?” said Crabb, a broad-shouldered man with a powerful voice. “Because they were Americans, and that man right there hates America with a vengeance.”
Khatallah swiveled slightly in his chair, eyes fixed forward, listening to a translator through headphones.
Crabb continued: Khatallah did not light the fire at the mission, nor did he fire the mortars at the annex. But he planned the attack, incited others, and ensured that no one interfered or helped the Americans later on.
“Someone can be guilty of a crime even if he doesn’t do each act that makes up that crime,” he said.
Crabb laid out a series of suggestive incidents involving Khatallah that occurred in the runup to the attack, such as a visit to a militia camp to stock up on weapons—and then gave a play-by-play of the attack itself. Khatallah mistakenly believed that the U.S. compound was a spy base and he wanted Americans out, Crabb said.
Aided by an elaborate model of the mission and annex, as well as video footage and photos, Crabb named several other participants in the attack who he repeatedly described as Khatallah’s “associates.”
Crabb did not flesh out Khatallah’s terror ties, but early on mentioned his role in the Islamist militia Ubaydah Bin Jarrah (UBJ). UBJ aimed to establish Sharia law in Libya, and the government has previously said that Khattalah was its commander. Crabb also mentioned Ansar al-Sharia (AAS), which he said was affiliated with UBJ, and which the government has said merged with AAS around 2011. AAS in Libya has been linked to al-Qaeda.
While Khatallah’s associates were trying to force their way in to buildings on the mission grounds, Crabb said that Khatallah was “on the perimeter” ensuring that nobody would be able to get into the mission and help the Americans. He then showed footage of Khatallah later that night, armed with an AK-47, entering a compound building that contained a room with secret government documents.
Crabb also told jurors they would hear from “Ali,” the man who lured Khatallah to his capture by the U.S. in 2014. Ali, who got close to Khatallah at the government’s request, will recount that Khatallah once told him he “would’ve killed all the Americans that night” at the mission and the airport “if others had not gotten involved and stopped me.”
The defense, meanwhile, repeatedly stressed that Ali had been paid $7 million dollars by the U.S. government to befriend Khatallah and feed information to U.S. officials.
Defense lawyer Jeffrey Robinson said Ali was doing whatever it took “to collect” on that reward—including telling the government what it wanted to hear. He warned against believing the government witnesses more broadly, especially the Libyans that would testify in the coming weeks.
“When you hear them, you’re not going to believe them,” Robinson said.
The defense argued that Khatallah was not the ringleader or mastermind behind the attack, nor did he participate in it. Other individuals masterminded the attacks and boasted about it, Robinson said—information that he described as classified.
The U.S. and Libya had chosen Khatallah as someone who “can be blamed,” Robinson said.
“Why is Mr. Abu Khatallah the only defendant here?” he continued. “He’s sitting there because he was easy.”
He noted that Khatallah did not go into hiding. “He didn’t have anything to do with it—that’s why he talked to reporters” after the attack.
On September 11, 2012, Khatallah had heard there was “a protest” happening at the mission and he decided to go check it out, Robinson said. He was “surprised” because “he didn’t know there was a special mission.” By the time he arrived, a compound building was already on fire and the Americans had left. He later went home and never went to the CIA annex, Robinson said.
Robinson further disagreed with the portrayal of Khatallah as a religious extremist with anti-American sentiments, and described him instead as a conservative religious “small businessman.” He fought on the same side as America, Robinson said, to rid Libya of Gaddafi.
And he took issue with the government’s treatment of Khatallah on the USS New York, the ship where he spent just under two weeks after his capture in 2014. Officials questioned him for several days, but, Robinson said, “deliberately” did not record the interviews. Crabb earlier noted that Khattala repeatedly waived his Miranda rights on the ship.
The trial is expected to last at least four more weeks, and a range of witnesses will be called, including local Libyans, U.S. government employees present at the attacks, and technical experts.
