US Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher: 11 Things to Know About His War Crimes Case
Eddie Gallagher.
It has been almost a year since U.S. Navy Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher has been publicly accused of a war crime. The severity of the crime is grim and reminiscent of the atrocities depicted in the 1985 anti-war movie “Platoon.” Gallagher, 39, is accused of premeditated murder. Here are the things you need to know about his case.
- Gallagher’s premeditated murder charge is in connection with the “stabbing” of an unarmed, wounded Islamic State combatant near Mosul, Iraq, during a 2017 deployment.
- He is accused of using a knife to slit the throat of a prisoner of war (POW), among other atrocities.
- Further testimony of alleged crimes will be presented in regard to Gallagher “bragging” about multiple killings.
- According to Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) files, a member of Gallagher’s unit — Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7 — is expected to shed light on Gallagher having previously confessed to killing four women.
- According to court documents, two other SEALs have told investigators that Gallagher had spoken about killing “10-20 people a day or 150-200 people on deployment.”
- Another sniper is planning to tell the court that Gallagher claimed that “he averaged three kills a day over 80 days.”
- According to the SEAL community, Gallagher tried to cover up allegations with threats. These threats included the murdering of witnesses and attempting to blacklist whistleblowers in the special warfare community and ruin their careers.
- In total, seven fellow SEALs came forward to their troop commander to call for a formal investigation of Gallagher. They claim the troop commander warned them that speaking out could cost them their careers.
- Investigators have not located any bodies in any of the alleged crimes.
- The trial will consist of a panel of officers and senior enlisted sailors that will ultimately rely on the credibility of witnesses’ testimony regarding Gallagher’s statements, due to lack of incriminating physical evidence.
- Gallagher is set to appear in a courtroom on May 28 inside Naval Base San Diego.
Neil Fotre is a contributing writer for Coffee or Die, and former U.S. Army Armor Officer. He has served operational deployments in South Korea and Afghanistan. Neil earned a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He covers military and veteran community topics. His writing has been featured in the Military Times, Forbes, the Daily Beast, Task and Purpose and Business Insider. In between pounding his fingers on a keyboard, he is constantly glugging away on seltzer water and sipping on dark roast… pinky out.
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