A US Navy Seal who was tried for war crimes was described by members of his unit as "evil", "toxic", and "perfectly OK with killing anybody", according to footage obtained by the New York Times.
The case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher gained national attention when President Trump championed him.
Gallagher was demoted by the Navy after his trial earlier this year but Mr Trump reversed the decision.
In doing so, the president contradicted the Navy's most senior leaders.
Mr Trump recently hosted Gallagher and his wife at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and described the soldier at a rally as one of the country's "great fighters".
[...]
What does the new footage show?
The video recordings obtained by the New York Times show Navy Seals giving evidence to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). They have never been shown publicly before, the Times reported.
The soldiers from Alpha Platoon Seal Team 7 were visibly nervous and some broke down into tears as they recalled what they had witnessed.
"The guy is freaking evil," said Special Operator Craig Miller.
In a separate interview, Special Operator First Class Joshua Vriens, a sniper, described their platoon chief as "toxic".
Special Operator First Class Corey Scott said: "You could tell he was perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving."
What happened at the trial?
Gallagher was accused of stabbing a captured teenager Islamic State fighter to death and randomly shooting civilians while serving in Iraq, including a young girl.
Footage from a helmet camera showed the former unit chief approaching the body of the semi-conscious IS fighter in May 2017. The camera was then shut off, but three members of Gallagher's unit testified that he stabbed the boy in the neck with his hunting knife, before holding an impromptu ceremony over the body as if it were a trophy.
A photograph taken at the scene showed Chief Gallagher posing over the body, holding the boy's hair in one hand his hunting knife in the other.
"I was listening to it and I was just thinking, like, this is the most disgraceful thing I've ever seen in my life," Special Operator Miller told NCIS investigators.
Last edited by IslamLife00; 06-29-2020 at 04:06 PM.
Reason: add video
Jabir bin 'Abdullah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said:'A slave (of Allah) shall not believe until he believes in Al-Qadar, its good and its bad, such that he knows that what struck him would not have missed him, and that what missed him would not have struck him." (Jami 'at Tirmidhi)
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts.
Sign Up
Bookmarks