Details emerge about accusations against SEAL Chief Gallagher.
Two SEALs offer up damaging testimony against a chief special warfare operator accused of war crimes — and suggest the command did not initially investigate the sprawling allegations of misconduct, new legal documents show.
Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward “Eddie” Gallagher not only stabbed to death a teenage wounded Islamic State prisoner of war during a 2017 deployment to Iraq, according to an officer in his chain of command, but the SEAL also called in “false target coordinates to engage a mosque,” tried to push his platoon into pointless and potentially catastrophic firefights with insurgents and became so mentally unstable that he should’ve been relieved from duty but wasn’t.
Those allegations are contained in a proffer from the officer sent to military officials on Wednesday seeking immunity from prosecution in the sprawling war crimes case roiling California-based SEAL Team 7.
Proffers are legal documents that outline what potential witnesses will say on the stand in a court-martial trial in exchange for immunity from prosecution for crimes they also might’ve committed.
Military prosecutors have charged Gallagher with killing the Islamic State detainee on May 3, 2017, shooting at innocent civilians with his sniper rifle at other times and later attempting to coerce potential witnesses to conceal his alleged war crimes.
I have received many requests to publish articles defending Chief Gallagher. Now that NT has made the contents of the Proffer public, it should become obvious why I resisted the “Free Eddie” campaign thus far.
There is enough credible evidence coming from within the Special Warfare community and from individuals that were actually with Chief Gallagher during his deployments.
His commanding officer at SEAL Team 7?s Alpha Platoon outside Mosul in mid-2017, Lt. Jacob X. “Jake” Portier, also faces a raft of charges for allegedly trying to conceal his chief’s crimes.
According to copies of the documents obtained by Navy Times, Wednesday’s proffer and another drafted on Jan. 17 for a senior enlisted leader in SEAL Group 1 not only divulge new allegations against Gallagher and Portier, but they also question how eager several of their superiors at Navy Special Warfare were at probing the war crime accusations.
Copies of federal search warrants also obtained by Navy Times show investigators have been tracing electronic communications across the SEAL community and have seized cellphones of those involved.
The twin proffers and search warrants are the clearest indications yet that there are active probes into senior enlisted and commissioned SEALs, a potentially damning indictment of the culture of the usually tight-knit community of clandestine commandos.
There is an active on-going investigation into the allegations against Chief Gallagher. I am not suggesting that he is guilty of anything, he is innocent and should be presumed so until otherwise proven.
We need aggressive warriors that will dive into harm’s way to defend this country. What some people might see as reckless behavior, others might see as “not being a pussy”.
All I can tell for sure thus far is; those who have stepped forward with these accusations have done so at substantial risk to themselves and their careers. I am not a fan of reckless behavior or chastising those who believe they are doing the right thing by standing up to it.
Please visit the entire article at the link below.
Source: New legal bombshells explode on two Navy SEAL war crimes cases
IMHO; The Art of War….Breaking things and killing the enemy BEFORE they break your things and kill you…. If they have already broken your things and killed your people, then it is open season on their ass….Bring every weapon to bear.
YMMV
Wise position to take, Dave.
Wish it were more commonly used by everyone.
What “risk”?
Did you miss months of liars accusing people of crimes publicly and when found out to be liars we rewarded with money, fame, and notoriety?
Where’s the video tape? I’m sure there has to be something these days. SF/SoF video tapes shit.
I would say that most of the people that make false accusations (https://www.breitbart.com/tag/false-accusations/) do it to get the ACCLAIM of others in their like-minded echo chamber. Navy SEALs testifying against fellow SEALs is not likely to get you adulations from ANYONE – especial those in the SEAL community. The most likely (I won’t say only) reason for someone to take this RISK (risk of backlash to perhaps answer your question) would be if you believed this guy were truly doing something majorly wrong.
I ain’ts no expert or anything. Just my observation.
You also have to consider the likelihood of cooperation with the prosecution in exchange for a pass on charges. As Nixon could attest, the coverup can be worse than the crime. If these guys took part in trying to hush it up, they might be testifying to save their bacon.
Mmmmmm, bacon….
Sounds like a leadership breakdown both enlisted and officer. They should have acted not to save the sorry asses of the enemy but to save this sailor. They should be punished and he should receive needed mental help.
Concur.
Graduating from BUD/S does not make you above the law, nor give you license to kill whomstever you please with impunity. This SEAL is being charged and prosecuted by other SEALs, not by some tree-hugging liberals. To quote the superhero’s uncle, “With great power comes great responsibility”. These accusations should be taken seriously.
Billy, people lie for a million reasons, and we have two SEALs accused of killing an SF dude for money, so let’s wait before we take anybody’s word or accusations a face value.
@Dave I apologize for jumping on the Free Eddie campaign I do not want to believe these accusations but as the evidence mounts it does point to where there is smoke there is fire.
I don’t like any of it either. I want to support Chief Gallagher … lets hope it works out that he is in the clear.
People do things under stress that they would not normally do. More information about Gallagher’s behavior needs to be provided.
I believe there is more to come in this, and have no opinion on it right now. I’ll wait.
From my admittedly quick read of the Navy Times story, the proffer from the AOIC didn’t seem to amount to much more than a personality conflict. The proffer from the troop chief (I don’t know what that is, specifically) sounds more serious. Thanks for keeping us up to date, Dave.
Hope this isn’t another My Lai. CWO Hugh Thompson had some stones in stopping that disaster (From what I’ve read. I wasn’t there.)
Before you take any position, pro or con, regarding Chief Gallagher, you need to read that Navy Times article word for word. There are several disturbing quotes in there regarding Gallagher’s mental state and his actions. The most distressing by far is this:
“In his proffer, the troop chief said the SO1 told him Gallagher had begun threatening to harm former Alpha Platoon members and their families.”
That is sworn legal testimony submitted by another SEAL and, in my opinion, should be enough to get Gallagher at least restricted to on-base quarters if not confined. In fact, that may well be why he is in the brig at Miramar, because such threats made against other SEALS, and especially their families, could end up getting someone killed. That’s likely what forced his superiors, who appear to have been trying to sweep this under the rug, to finally act by confining him.
If Gallagher made such threats, that is behavior that is simply beyond the pale, completely unacceptable and dishonorable. You do not EVER threaten your teammates’ loved ones.
I think the man has very serious psychiatric problems as do some of his fellow SEALs.
My last sentence is very poorly written. I did not mean to say that I think anyone other than Gallagher has mental issues. I should have said,
“I think the man has very serious psychiatric problems and some of his fellow SEAL’s agree. “
Thanks for this update, Dave…