“It was a nasty deployment,” Duggins added when told of the pardon on Friday. “It’s clear cut, and it shouldn’t be a partisan issue for Clint to be in jail for his full sentence. “The guy’s a war criminal,” Andrew Duggins, a former Army captain who served with Lorance in the same unit of the 82nd Airborne Division at the time and who read sworn statements of Lorance’s platoonmates made immediately after the mission. “Many Americans have sought executive clemency for Lorance, including 124,000 people who have signed a petition to the White House, as well as several members of Congress.” “He has served more than six years of a 19-year sentence he received,” the White House said Friday.

He was convicted in part on the strength of the testimony of members of the infantry platoon he was commanding. The Associated Press contributed to this report.Lorance was found guilty by a military court on two counts of second-degree murder for ordering his soldiers to fire on three men in Afghanistan in 2008.

This story was reported from Los Angeles. The 14-year veteran then retired with full honors at the end of the month. In November, he also received help from President Donald Trump, who reversed the Navy’s decision to demote Gallagher. Gallagher has constantly criticized the men of lying and accusing him of the war crimes in an effort to oust him because they could not meet his standards for the team. They then felt they were forced to pose with the teen’s body in a photo resembling a trophy kill. Members said they saw Gallagher shoot two Iraqi civilians and stab the teenage captive in the neck with a hunting knife. In the SEALs there is an “unwritten code of silence” and the men struggled to upend that code to report Gallagher, the Times reported. In the text messages, the group of men encouraged one another to tell the truth despite the fear their careers could be ruined. Scott, who was a medic on the platoon, is the witness who changed his testimony on the stand, according to the Times. “You could tell he was perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving,” Special Operator First Class Corey Scott said. According to the Times report, video footage from the Navy’s investigation showed the SEAL Team members nervous, shifting in their seats and breaking down while describing what they witnessed Gallagher do.

Navy seals war crimes