Mike Norris, Co-Editor, The American Dossier
On Tuesday, a military jury found Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher not guilty of premeditated murder. Gallagher was accused of stabbing a detained ISIS fighter in the neck and body in Mosul, Iraq.
Gallagher, 40, is a 19-year Navy veteran and a Bronze Star recipient. When the incidents in question occurred in 2017, he was on his eighth deployment.
Gallagher was found guilty of just one of his seven charges: posing for a photo with a human casualty.
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (“U.C.M.J.”), Gallagher faced a maximum sentence of four months confinement. However, he walked free after sentencing, due to having served 201 days in pretrial confinement. The jury reduced Gallagher’s rank by one grade to Petty Officer 1st Class (E-6) and ordered his monthly pay to be cut by $2,697. The judge capped the pay cut at two months.
Gallagher’s verdict comes after a dramatic court-martial.
Members of Gallagher’s platoon testified that he walked up and stabbed a detained ISIS fighter in the neck. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, the platoon medic, told prosecutors that he unsuccessfully tried to revive the prisoner after Gallagher stabbed him.
At trial Scott changed his story, shocking the courtroom by saying that he, not Gallagher, actually killed the prisoner. Scott testified that he blocked the prisoner's breathing tube and killed him as an act of mercy after Gallagher stabbed him. Scott had previously not told prosecutors that, and his account only changed after he was granted immunity.
Gallagher plead not guilty to all charges, contending that his accusers were "disgruntled subordinates who could not meet his high standards." Most of the witnesses were granted immunity to protect them from being prosecuted for the acts they described on the stand.
In March 2019, President Trump intervened in Gallagher’s case, having him moved to "less restrictive confinement" due to the "honor of his past service to our country." In May, several news outlets reported that the President was considering a pardon for Gallagher.
Gallagher’s case is the third military justice case to receive President Trump’s attention.
Kristian Saucier was a machinist's mate aboard the U.S.S. Alexandria. Saucier used the camera on his cellphone to take pictures of the sub while it was docked at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn. Saucier had told officials that he had taken the photos as mementos of his time on the ship.
In May 2016, Saucier plead guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice. In March 2018 Trump pardoned Saucier, stating that his case was an example of differing standards of prosecution as Hillary Clinton was not charged for committing the same offense.
1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna, who served with the 101st Airborne Division, was convicted of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone after killing a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist in Iraq. Originally sentenced to 25 years in prison, the Army’s highest appellate court stated concern about how the trial court handled Behenna’s claim of self-defense and reduced his sentence to 15 years.
The Army Clemency and Parole Board paroled Behenna five years into his sentence. In May 2019, Trump pardoned Behenna, a move that received broad support from the military, Oklahoma elected officials and the public.
The President’s involvement in the military justice system has elicited howls from the mainstream media, who have described his actions as unprecedented and bad for the military. History tells us neither is the case.
President George Washington pardoned those indicted for treason during the Whiskey Rebellion. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson pardoned hundreds of thousands of Confederates after the Civil War. President Gerald Ford allowed Vietnam-era military deserters to receive a clemency discharge by performing alternative service. President Jimmy Carter pardoned hundreds of thousands of draft dodgers.
More recently, President Obama commuted the death sentence handed down by a military court to Private First Class Dwight Loving. In 1988, Loving killed two taxicab drivers and attempted to kill a third.
Obama also commuted the sentence of Private First Class Bradley Manning, leading to his release from prison after serving just seven years of a 35-year sentence handed down by a military court. Manning leaked 700,000 “diplomatic cables and other secret documents to WikiLeaks.”
Counter to the media’s narrative, military pardons and executive clemency are not rogue actions that are detrimental to the military criminal justice system. Executive clemency for service members won’t undermine the U.C.M.J. any more than clemency extended to civilians undermines the civilian justice system.
Rather, these actions are an integral part of the military justice system. Executive pardons and clemency illustrate one of the greatest strengths of the American military: civilian oversight and control.
The ability of elected leaders to exercise oversight and control of military justice cases is an important aspect of our armed forces. This civilian oversight and control is fundamental to maintaining a free society, ensuring our continued freedom and independence.
After serving as an Airborne Infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division, Mike attended Florida State University, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and George Washington University, where he received his Masters in Political Management.
Since 2004, Mike has worked in the Florida Senate, where he was one of only two Chief’s of Staff under 30 and in the Michigan Senate, where he served as the Legislative Aide to the Assistant Minority Floor Leader. The 2018 election cycle was Mike’s eighth as a Political Consultant.
Mike previously served as the Secretary and Vice President of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, Regional Vice Chair for the Florida Federated Young Republicans and attended the 2012 Republican National Convention as an Alternate Delegate. He currently lives in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, with his rescue Pit Bull, Ike.
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