January 2022 trial set for IS militants nicknamed 'Beatles' March 5, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has tentatively scheduled a January 2022 trial for two Britain militants charged with being part of an Islamic State group that tortured and beheaded American and European hostages in Syria. A jury trial for El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey is set to start on Jan. 18, 2022. U.S. District Judge T. S. Ellis III scheduled that “target” date during a hearing on Friday, saying it “seems more than reasonable to me." The two men, along with other British jihadis, allegedly made up the IS cell nicknamed “The Beatles” by surviving captives because of their English accents.