A key suspect in the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, has been taken into U.S. custody and will face trial in federal court, Justice Department officials announced Friday.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Zubayr al-Bakoush arrived at Joint Base Andrews at about 3 a.m. Friday and will be prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Authorities did not disclose how long he had been in custody or where he was apprehended.
“Al-Bakoush will now face American justice on American soil,” Bondi said.
According to an eight-count indictment, al-Bakoush is charged with crimes including the murders of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and State Department employee Sean Smith, the attempted murder of State Department Special Agent Scott Wicklund, and arson, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said. It was not immediately clear whether he has legal representation.
The criminal case against al-Bakoush was originally filed in 2015 during the Obama administration and remained sealed for more than a decade. The charges were publicly announced Friday by Bondi, Pirro, and FBI Director Kash Patel, who praised the work of U.S. law enforcement agencies.
The Benghazi attack quickly became a major political flashpoint in the United States. Republicans sharply criticized the response by then-President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, questioning both security at the compound and the administration’s initial explanation of the attack. House Republicans later conducted six investigations into the government’s handling of the incident.
“President Trump is making sure that American justice is coming for those responsible for the deaths of those four Americans,” Pirro said.
The United States has not operated an embassy in Libya since 2014, amid ongoing civil war and instability following the 2012 attack. U.S. diplomatic operations related to Libya have since been handled from the American embassy in Tunisia, and Americans are advised to avoid travel to Libya.
In March 2024, the Biden administration informed Congress of plans to reopen the U.S. embassy in Libya in 2025 and requested funding. The Trump administration has not yet announced its plans regarding U.S. diplomatic presence in the country.