SAN DIEGO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated a U.S. Navy SEAL platoon leader on Wednesday for being acquitted of murdering a captured Islamic State fighter, adding that he was “glad he could help” in the case.
U.S. Navy SEAL Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher walks with wife Andrea Gallagher after being acquitted on most of the serious charges against him during his court-martial trial at Naval Base San Diego in San Diego, California, U.S., July 2, 2019. REUTERS/John Gastaldo
The Twitter message came a day after a military jury found Special Operations Chief Eddie Gallagher, 39, not guilty of murder, including allegations he fatally stabbed the badly wounded Iraqi captive in the neck and shot at unarmed civilians from a sniper’s perch.
The seven-member jury did convict him of unlawfully posing for pictures with the Islamic State fighter’s dead body and were set to decide what, if any, sentence he would face for that charge on Wednesday.
“Congratulations to Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, his wonderful wife Andrea, and his entire family. You have been through much together. Glad I could help!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Trump intervened in Gallagher’s case months ago, ordering him moved from pretrial detention in a military brig to less restrictive confinement at a Navy base in recognition of the decorated veteran’s “past service to our country.”
Gallagher thanked Trump, as well as two Republican congressmen, earlier on Wednesday in an interview on Fox News.
“I want to say thank you to Congressman Duncan Hunter and Congressman Ralph Norman and also to President Trump for intervening when he did,” Gallagher said. Hunter is from California and Norman is from South Carolina.
The single offense of posing for unofficial pictures with a human casualty, in this case the remains of the Iraqi whom Gallagher was acquitted of killing, carries a maximum sentence of four months’ imprisonment.
Navy authorities said Gallagher gets credit for nearly seven months of time already served in pretrial custody, so he would presumably remain a free man. But he could receive other punishment, such as a demotion in rank and reduced pay.
Gallagher would have faced a possible life prison sentence had he been found guilty of murder or attempted murder.
Following Tuesday’s verdict, the court was reconvened for a brief sentencing hearing, during which two friends of Gallagher testified on his behalf as character witnesses.
The jury also heard from two doctors who specialize in brain injuries. They said Gallagher suffered repeated concussions during his combat career, putting him at high risk of brain degeneration and visual impairments that will require ongoing medical attention.
Jurors were due to return on Wednesday to the courthouse at U.S. Naval Base San Diego to decide any penalties to be imposed.
Gallagher, who did not testify in his own defense, insisted that disgruntled subordinates with no prior battlefield experience fabricated allegations against him over grievances with his leadership style and tactics.
The chief petty officer was arrested in 2018, more than a year after returning from his eighth overseas deployment in Mosul, in northern Iraq.
Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors lacked physical evidence to buttress their charges, and they presented several witnesses who contradicted the government’s narrative in the case.
In a surprise blow to prosecutors during the first week of the trial, a Navy SEAL medic testified it was he, not Gallagher, who caused the death of the gravely injured prisoner by blocking his breathing tube, calling it a mercy killing.
Two defense witnesses – an Iraqi general and a U.S. Marine staff sergeant – later testified they never saw the Iraqi captive mistreated by anyone during the 20 minutes he spent alive in American custody.
Reporting by Marty Graham in San Diego, additional reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Scott Malone