navy reduces punishment for seal in war crimes case

Gallagher is charged with murdering a helpless, wounded Islamic State fighter in his custody, and with two counts of attempted murder in the wounding of two unarmed civilians, a schoolgirl and elderly man, shot from a sniper’s perch. The finding came near the end of a two-day hearing that wrapped up just 10 days before Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher is due to stand trial in a case that has drawn the attention of U.S. Courtesy Andrea Gallagher/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, charged with war crimes in Iraq, is shown in this undated photo provided May 24, 2019. According to the Navy Times, a lead petty officer from the platoon told NCIS agents that he viewed the reenlistment ceremony as 'the most disgraceful thing he had ever seen.U.S. Witnesses have said Gallagher recited his reenlistment oath near the ISIS detainee's body.

The news outlet cited NCIS interviews in which the SEALs reportedly said Gallagher had bragged about killing dozens or even hundreds of people on each of his deployments. Gallagher's case has exposed rifts in the secretive SEAL community of special operators - a schism that the Navy Times highlighted in April when it laid out some of the details of the accusations against Gallagher.ĭrawing on Naval Criminal Investigative Service files and legal records it had obtained, the Navy Times said some of the SEALs in Gallagher's unit wanted to block him from a promotion or a possible Silver Star honor. And they said junior members of Gallagher's platoon had turned against him because they didn't like his leadership style. The SEAL's defense team said the photos were a normal part of the dark humor among service members. In one message, he said, 'Good story behind this. Prosecutors had urged the jury to convict Gallagher based in part on text messages he sent about the dead ISIS fighter, along with a photo of the corpse. He was acquitted on those charges as well. Gallagher, a sniper and medic, had also been accused of shooting unarmed Iraqi civilians, including an elderly man and a school-age girl in Mosul.

Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Corey Scott told the court that he blocked the prisoner's breathing tube and killed him as an act of mercy after Gallagher stabbed him. Law Judge Removes Lead Prosecutor In Navy SEAL War-Crime Case

Navy reduces punishment for seal in war crimes case