Officials say an indictment charges Zubayr al-Bakoush with crimes including the murders of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and a State Department employee.

The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in flames after an attack in 2012.Esam Omran Al-Fatori / Reuters file

A man accused in the 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in the Libyan city of Benghazi that killed four Americans appeared before a U.S. judge on Friday to face criminal charges.

The first word that Zubayr al-Bakoush was in custody came when Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the the 58-year-old suspected militia leader had touched down in the U.S. at 3 a.m.

???? AG Pam Bondi: "Today, I am proud to announce that the FBI has arrested one of the key participants behind the Benghazi attack."

pic.twitter.com/l8vQA1d8us

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 6, 2026

Bondi did not say how long al-Bakoush had been in U.S. custody or where he had been apprehended. But she said he would be tried in federal court in the District of Columbia.

"Al-Bakoush will now face American justice on American soil," Bondi said.

Nearly 12 hours later, al-Bakoush appeared in a courtroom before Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya.

"I have complete trust in the court and the jury," al-Bakoush said via an interpreter while he was being sworn in. "They will not be unjust."

The 2012 attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi became an instantly divisive political issue. Republicans accused President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of failing to protect the Americans and questioned the administration`s narrative about how they responded during the 13-hour siege.

Al-Bakoush, according to the indictment against him, is charged with crimes including the murders of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and State Department employee Sean Smith, attempted murder of State Department Special Agent Scott Wickland, and arson, said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

Dressed in a gray sweatsuit and confined to a wheelchair, al-Bakoush breathed heavily during the proceedings. He sat with his head down and his eyes barely open while Upadhyaya read the eight charges against him that could send him to prison for life if he`s convicted.

"Water, I need water," he said at one point. "I`m feeling dry."

The Department of Justice, which was represented by attorneys Karen Seifert and Michael DiLorenzo, requested that al-Bakoush remain in federal custody, and the judge set a Feb. 11 detention hearing.

The Libyan national was represented at the hearing by public defender Benjamin Schiffelbein, who appeared on behalf of Jessica Carmichael, who will be defending al-Bakoush moving forward.

During the hearing, al-Bakoush requested that the government notify the Libyan Consulate of his whereabouts and told the judge he held a bachelor`s degree in library sciences.

He is the third person U.S. authorities have arrested in connection with the Benghazi attack.

Mustafa al-Imam was captured in 2017 by by a team of U.S. special forces and members of the FBI`s Hostage Rescue Team and later sentenced to 19 years in prison.

Ahmed Abu Khattala, one of the accused masterminds of the attack, was captured in 2014 by the FBI and special forces. He was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 22 years in prison a year later.

House Republicans launched six investigations of the Obama administration`s handling of the Benghazi attack and aggressively questioned Clinton for hours.

Democrats accused Republicans of using the inquiry to hurt Clinton`s chances at the presidency.

In the end, a GOP-led panel issued an 800-page report faulting the Obama administration for not responding faster to the attacks. But the report did not find any wrongdoing by Clinton.

The criminal case against al-Bakoush was first brought during the Obama administration in 2015 and was sealed for more than a decade. It was announced Friday by Bondi, Pirro and FBI Director Kash Patel, who all praised the work of law enforcement agents.

"President Trump is making sure that American justice is coming for those individuals responsible for the deaths of those four Americans," Pirro said.

The U.S. has not had an embassy in Libya since 2014 after a civil war erupted in the oil-rich country.

While a ceasefire in 2020 ended major fighting, the two rival governments vying for control of the country are in a stalemate and there continue to be sporadic clashes by armed militias, particularly in the capital city of Tripoli.

U.S. officials handling diplomacy with Libya have been operating from the American Embassy in neighboring Tunisia.

In March 2024, the Biden administration told Congress it planned to reopen an embassy in Libya in 2025 and requested funding from lawmakers. The Trump administration has not said what it plans to do in Libya.