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Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876


God Bless Our Troops

SAN DIEGO — In a war-crimes trial that roiled the elite Navy SEALs and drew the attention of President Trump, a decorated eight-tour SEAL platoon leader was found not guilty on Tuesday of first-degree murder of a captive ISIS fighter and attempted murder of civilians in Iraq.

But the platoon leader, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, was convicted of one charge: posing for photos with the teenage captive's dead body.

Chief Gallagher, 40, who was serving with SEAL Team 7, became a rallying cause of some Republicans in Congress and members of the conservative media. Mr. Trump said on Twitter in March that he would have the chief released from pretrial confinement "in honor of his past service to our country."

Because the maximum sentence Chief Gallagher could now face is four months, and he has spent more time than that in pretrial confinement, he was expected to go free on Tuesday.

Past threads on the subject detailing how fucked up he is



The chief was turned in by his own platoon last spring. Several fellow SEALs reported that their leader had shot civilians and killed the captive Islamic State fighter with a custom hunting knife during a deployment in Iraq in 2017. He was also charged with obstruction of justice by threatening to kill SEALs who reported him.

In the SEALs, Chief Gallagher had a reputation as a "pirate" — an operator more interested in fighting terrorists than in adhering to the rules and making rank. When members of his platoon reported his actions to superior officers, fissures were revealed in the polished image of the SEALs and the unwritten code of silence among members of the secretive force, who see themselves as a brotherhood.

Some of the platoon members who spoke out were called traitors in a closed Facebook group and were threatened with violence. In court, some said they had started carrying weapons for self-defense.
 
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Josh378

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,521
Yea...USA is screwed up. Had it been a black man or anyone not a citizen of the USA, he would have been found guilty with all that evidence provided.
 

Malleymal

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,283
Can't wait for zombie trump to tweet about this and also talk about it at his military parade tomorrow .

USA!!
 
Oct 30, 2017
8,706
If I was one of the people who spoke up, I'd feel mortified to have risked my reputation and my relationships with my peers just to have this guy walk.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
If I was one of the people who spoke up, I'd feel mortified to have risked my reputation and my relationships with my peers just to have this guy walk.
I edited the OP, the people started carrying weapons for self defense after multiple threats of violence. Lmao.

My brother's in the SEALs I wonder if he'll hand wave this away.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
User banned (5 days): Wishing mental illness and suicide on an individual.
Kinda tough when the prosecution's star witness admits to the killing after you grant him immunity.
Yeah as soon as that happened it was over. Hopefully the dude suffers from PTSD (doubtful since he seems like a sociopath) and does us all a favor and leaves the world on his own accord
 

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
It sounded like this was always going to be an uphill battle since there's no bodies and no evidence. Apparently it was all just based on testimony of his peers.

Trump probably would have pardoned him anyway, to be honest.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
It sounded like this was always going to be an uphill battle since there's no bodies and no evidence. Apparently it was all just based on testimony of his peers.

Trump probably would have pardoned him anyway, to be honest.
It would have been easier for the prosecution probably if the military didn't dick around for over a year.
 
Oct 30, 2017
8,706
I edited the OP, the people started carrying weapons for self defense after multiple threats of violence. Lmao.

My brother's in the SEALs I wonder if he'll hand wave this away.

When witnessing war crimes first hand, it's probably a horrifying sight for the average person or the average SEAL.
But if you are not present to see those crimes, I could definitely see how this fucked up culture warps people's minds.

-American exceptionalism. Never question the actions of our service members. Military fetishism
-The snowflake libs are just trying to stir shit up because they hate America

It's as if a huge portion of America is drunk.
 

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,388
So the judge just thought everyone who risked everything to report this guy were lying through their teeth, eh?

Justice system in America is trash.

A jury of 7 military personnel found him not guilty. Not sure what this has to do with the adequacy of the US judiciary. Once Cory Scott admitted to killing the victim the case was more or less over for the prosecution.
 

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
29,895
It was inevitable as soon as his buddy took immunity and then claimed he killed them. I feel like he might have been convicted, at least of the posing the body charge, if this was before a civilian jury rather than a crony military jury
 

Nivash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,463
Christ. This isn't exactly surprising with all the political pressure lining up behind him but it's still enraging.
 

Doomguy Fieri

Member
Nov 3, 2017
5,261
Incredibly fucked up how the medic "admitted" to the murder once he had immunity. Just a clown show from the prosecutors.

The US military murders people all the time and it's not considered a big deal because hey, shit happens. Shouldn't have been standing next to that building we wanted to blow up. This one feels extra gross though. Stabbed a wounded, restrained kid in the neck then posed next to the body like a big game hunter. Not guilty.

Looking forward to this sociopath representing a deep red district in congress for the next few decades.
 

Mr_Antimatter

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,571
The military has a poor history of conviction for war crimes. Much like the police they go to endless lengths to protect their own.
 

Deleted member 32374

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 10, 2017
8,460
It was inevitable as soon as his buddy took immunity and then claimed he killed them. I feel like he might have been convicted, at least of the posing the body charge, if this was before a civilian jury rather than a crony military jury

If anyone needs proof of a fucked up culture within parts of the US military, exhibit A right fucking there. Clear as day that this was planned out and no at all surprising that we're hearing only minor rumblings about injustice.

I mean the Presido was even going to pardon this guy. What the fuck?

Dehumanization works and it can't be argued that the military doesn't preach this endlessly.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Incredibly fucked up how the medic "admitted" to the murder once he had immunity. Just a clown show from the prosecutors.

The US military murders people all the time and it's not considered a big deal because hey, shit happens. Shouldn't have been standing next to that building we wanted to blow up. This one feels extra gross though. Stabbed a wounded, restrained kid in the neck then posed next to the body like a big game hunter. Not guilty.

Looking forward to this sociopath representing a deep red district in congress for the next few decades.
You forgot him firing indiscriminately into crowds of civilians.
 

Powdered Egg

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
17,070
In Ken Burns' Vietnam doc, they said there were incidents where subordinate soldiers clapped guys like this.
 

Deleted member 17092

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
20,360
When witnessing war crimes first hand, it's probably a horrifying sight for the average person or the average SEAL.
But if you are not present to see those crimes, I could definitely see how this fucked up culture warps people's minds.

-American exceptionalism. Never question the actions of our service members. Military fetishism
-The snowflake libs are just trying to stir shit up because they hate America

It's as if a huge portion of America is drunk.

A huge portion of America actually is drunk probably around 25-50% of their waking hours.
 

Doober

Banned
Jun 10, 2018
4,295
The defense lawyer literally slandered his fellow SEALs by portraying them as "soft millenials," who ratted out their tough, hard-cracking REAL SEAL.

Just a disgusting display all around.
 

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,388
In Ken Burns' Vietnam doc, they said there were incidents where subordinate soldiers clapped guys like this.

Yep but Vietnam was a completely different beast.

So will the medic be charged with murder now?

Or is this some elaborate lawyer scheme, where the medic will claim it was Gallagher all along during his own trial, and since Gallagher was acquitted, he can't be tried again and they both walk.

Possibly a perjury charge. Up to 5 years.
 

Fisty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,204
Well at least we wont have our President pardoning a war criminal... yay...
 

Figgles

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
2,568
It was inevitable as soon as his buddy took immunity and then claimed he killed them. I feel like he might have been convicted, at least of the posing the body charge, if this was before a civilian jury rather than a crony military jury

He was found guilty of that charge... The result from a civilian jury probably would have been the opposite. Most people wouldn't care too much about him posing with a dead ISIS fighter.
 

Isilia

Member
Mar 11, 2019
5,800
US: PA
At this point it's no longer shock at hearing these things. It just becomes the question "Who's next?"
 

Instro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,001
Unfortunate, but not a surprising outcome. If nothing else, hopefully it will prevent this guy from going any further in his military career. Ultimately though there are tons more just like him, warped in the head due to military training, long years of service, and active duty in war zones.
 

Dude Abides

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,382
I understand why the medic confession fucked that aspect of the case, but what about him trying to snipe little girls and threatening to kill people who reported him? Did the tribunal just not believe the testimony?
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
My brother's in the SEALs I wonder if he'll hand wave this away.
Answer: yes. Took the conflicting medic's confession and used it to discredit everything else while ignoring the fact that he had full immunity.

When witnessing war crimes first hand, it's probably a horrifying sight for the average person or the average SEAL.
I mean I remember reading a post from a few days back about how Chris Matthews (I think) gave commentary on a drone strike that it was beautiful so I'm not too sure about that one.