What was apparently a badly conducted prosecution has ended in conviction on only one count and not of murder.
SAN DIEGO — Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL platoon leader accused of war crimes, was found not guilty on Tuesday of first-degree murder of a captive fighter and attempted murder of civilians in Iraq, but was convicted of a single charge for posing with the dead body of an ISIS captive.
Chief Gallagher, 40, a decorated eight-tour veteran serving in SEAL Team 7, became a rallying cause of some Republicans in Congress and members of the conservative media, and the focus of a potential pardon by President Trump.
Because the maximum sentence he could now face is four months, and he has spent more time than that in pretrial confinement, he will go free Tuesday.
Bragging about murder and sending trophy photos may not be the same as homicide, but if it was even remotely true that his team would actually readjust his rifle (scope) to stop him from shooting (too many) civilians, something is still seriously wrong.
in other brutality news.