Family members of 9/11 victims filled a New York City courtroom Wednesday as they pushed forward in their long-running effort to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for allegedly supporting the hijackers who carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the kingdom’s challenge to a ruling allowing the families’ lawsuit to proceed.
The suit — filed in 2004 and involving thousands of plaintiffs — alleges that Saudi government officials provided financial and logistical support to several hijackers. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.
Saudi Arabia has consistently denied involvement in the attacks, which killed 2,977 people in Manhattan, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.
A three-judge panel is expected to issue its decision at a later date.
Wednesday’s oral arguments
Oral arguments began shortly after 10 a.m., with Gregory Rapawy, an attorney for Saudi Arabia, addressing the court first.
Rapawy said the kingdom “never supported its enemy, Al Qaeda, against its ally, the United States,” according to The New York Post. He also argued that sovereign immunity shields Saudi Arabia from the lawsuit.
Gavin Simpson, an attorney for the victims’ families, countered that the Saudi government had “failed” to establish grounds for dismissal. Simpson cited the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, a 2016 law that narrowed foreign governments’ immunity from U.S. lawsuits involving terrorism.
Arguments concluded shortly before noon, NBC News reported.
“Thank you all,” Judge William Nardini told those gathered in the courtroom, according to the Post. “It’s a difficult case and we will take it under advisement.”
Long-running legal battle
The proceedings marked the latest chapter in a legal battle that has faced repeated challenges over Saudi Arabia’s immunity.
In 2015, claims against the kingdom were dismissed, but a federal appeals court later overturned that decision. In 2025, U.S. District Judge George Daniels denied Saudi Arabia’s renewed motion to dismiss, finding that the families had presented “reasonable evidence” that the kingdom employed two men — Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy — to assist two of the al Qaeda hijackers.
Saudi Arabia’s appeal of that ruling brought the case before the panel Wednesday.
The 9/11 Commission Report, released in 2004, described the 19 hijackers as operatives carrying out an al-Qaeda plot, acting “at the behest of Islamist extremists headquartered in distant Afghanistan.” Still, questions have long been raised about Saudi Arabia’s possible involvement.
In 2016, U.S. intelligence officials released classified documents showing possible Saudi links to 9/11.
In 2021, the FBI released additional documents describing contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates, though they offered no evidence the kingdom was complicit with the plot. That year, the Saudi Embassy in Washington said it supported the full declassification of all records as a way to “end the baseless allegations against the Kingdom once and for all.”
Reaction from family members
Before and after Wednesday’s proceedings, victims’ relatives and survivors voiced frustration, saying they had waited too long for accountability.
“Saudi Arabia has spent years trying to avoid answering for what its own agents did in the lead-up to 9/11," said Brett Eagleson, whose father died in the attacks, according to CBS News.
“A federal judge has already reviewed the evidence and ruled that this case belongs in an American courtroom. We are asking the Second Circuit to uphold that decision so the families who have waited a quarter of a century can finally have their day in court.”
“I want justice," Sharron Clemons, who was wounded during the attacks on the World Trade Center, told the Post. "I’m still angry... I suffer from deep depression, PTSD.”
After the arguments, some relatives also urged President Donald Trump to intervene.
“President Trump, I love ya, but you are not doing enough,” said Aaron Sand, whose father died on 9/11. “You have to prioritize the family members who were harmed, who lost loved ones because of this nation that claims to be an ally but is very much proving the opposite.”
The oral arguments came weeks after the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, which was marked by solemn ceremonies across the U.S.
“My husband, Tom Strada. You are missed more with each year that passes,” Terry Strada, a 9/11 widow, said during a ceremony at ground zero in Manhattan. “But, how can it be 25 years, and still we have no justice...”
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