\n US President Donald Trump on Wednesday congratulated a US Navy Seal who was acquitted of murder in a war crimes trial, and took credit for helping.\n<\/p>\n
\n A military court in California cleared Edward Gallagher, 40, Tuesday of the murder of a teenage Islamic State prisoner in 2017 in Iraq as well as other serious charges related to the case.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gallagher, a Navy chief petty officer, was found guilty only of posing with the slain fighter's body in a group picture with other SEALs, a charge that carries a much lighter sentence.\n<\/p>\n
\n Trump, who had previously suggested he might pardon Gallagher if he were convicted, hailed the verdict in a tweet.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Congratulations to Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, his wonderful wife Andrea, and his entire family. You have been through much together. Glad I could help!\" he wrote.\n<\/p>\n
\n Gallagher, who spent nine months in the brig at a naval base pending the court martial, was expected to walk free on the basis of time served.\n<\/p>\n
\n Spurred on by his wife, a group of lawmakers had lobbied for his release in an initiative publicized by the conservative Fox News network.\n<\/p>\n
\n The prosecution's case was dealt a major blow when a witness said that it was he, not Gallagher, who had put an end to the captive IS militant's life.\n<\/p>\n
\n Corey Scott, a first class petty officer, testified that while he had seen Gallagher stab the wounded fighter in the neck in May 2017, he had killed the boy afterwards.\n<\/p>\n
\n He testified that he covered the victim's breathing tube with his thumb and then watched him die.\n<\/p>\n
\n Scott said he did so to spare the boy -- who prosecutors say was about 15 years old -- from suffering or being tortured by Iraqi forces.\n<\/p>\n
\n Scott, who was given immunity from prosecution, acknowledged during questioning that he made the revelation to spare Gallagher, who is married and has children, from going to prison.\n<\/p>\n
\n Prosecutors argued Scott's version of events was a fabrication and that he was lying to protect Gallagher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday congratulated a US Navy Seal who was acquitted of murder in a war crimes trial, and took credit for helping. A military court in California cleared Edward Gallagher, 40, Tuesday of the murder of a teenage Islamic State prisoner in 2017 in Iraq as well as other serious charges […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-41828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n