Special Warfare Chief Edward Gallagher cried tears of joy Tuesday after a jury acquitted him of war crimes, his lawyer said.
After about eight hours of deliberation, the jury of five Marines and two sailors found Gallagher not guilty of murder and attempted murder and guilty of unlawfully taking a picture with the corpse of a teenaged ISIS fighter he was accused of killing. Gallagher, wearing his dress white uniform, first maintained his composure while sitting with members of his family while the verdict was read.
But he cried “tears of joy, elation, freedom, absolute euphoria” after hearing the verdict, according to defense attorney Marc Mukasey.
“The jury found him not guilty of the murder, not guilty of the stabbing, not guilty of the stabbings, not guilty of all those things,” lead defense attorney Timothy Parlatore told reporters after the verdict was read. “They did find him guilty of taking a photograph with a dead terrorist, which we admitted from the beginning.”
Fellow Navy SEALs accused Gallagher, 40, of stabbing an injured ISIS fighter to death while deployed to Iraq in 2017. He took pictures with the corpse, texting them to fellow SEALs.
“Good story behind this one. Got him with my hunting knife,” Gallagher wrote to one colleague.
Gallagher was also accused of shooting an unarmed elderly Iraqi man, though Special Operator 1st Class Joshua Graffam testified he and Gallagher thought the man was a middle-aged ISIS fighter.
The trial took a dramatic turn when Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott testified that he, not Gallagher, was responsible for the death of the ISIS fighter. Scott said he asphyxiated the teenager to save him from being tortured by Iraqis.
“Congratulations to Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, his wonderful wife Andrea, and his entire family,” President Trump said in a tweet Wednesday. “You have been through so much together. Glad I could help!”
Trump was reportedly considering Gallagher and several other troops for pardons in May but ultimately decided to let the trial run its course first.
Gallagher is not expected to serve any jail time for the unlawful photograph conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of four months in prison.
Related coverage:
