Fireworks flew during the trial of U.S. Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher Thursday after his comrade unexpectedly admitted to the killing of a wounded ISIS prisoner.
Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, a Navy SEAL medic, testified during the trial that he was the one responsible for killing the terrorist whom Gallagher is accused of murdering. Scott said that he smothered the victim out of mercy, fearing the ISIS fighter would be tortured by the Iraqi security forces waiting nearby.
Although the testimony punched a hole in the prosecution, the Navy said that it isn’t dropping the murder charges against Gallagher. He is also facing charges of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Iraqi civilians.
Dramatic twist
According to a riveting report from Fox, the scene of the court-martial at Naval Base San Diego Thursday sounded like something out of Hollywood court drama. Scott’s confession stunned the courtroom, and a Fox reporter caught sight Gallagher and his wife embracing with relief in the hallway during a recess.
During cross-examination, Scott testified to the court that he smothered the victim. Scott, Gallagher, and other SEALS had been treating the prisoner, who was wounded in an airstrike, for close to 20 minutes and had placed an air tube in his throat to clear his airway. “Gallagher inexplicably stabbed the prisoner below his collarbone before stomping off, Scott said, but the boy would’ve survived that,” the Navy Times reported. That’s when Scott placed his thumb over the victim’s breathing tube, he testified.
“Did Chief Gallagher kill this terrorist?” Gallagher’s attorney Timothy Parlatore asked Scott.
“No,” Scott replied, stunning the courtroom.
Mercy killing
When the defense pressed Scott on why he killed the militant, the SEAL said that he “knew he was going to die anyway” and that he “wanted to save him from what was going to happen next to him.” Scott claimed that he had witnessed the Iraqi Emergency Response Division “torture, rape and murder prisoners” and that he wanted to spare the teenage militant from being tormented.
Sparks flew in the courtroom as the prosecutor accused Scott, who was granted immunity for his testimony, of offering up his story only now because he wanted to save Gallagher from prison. Prosecutor Lt. Brian John read aloud transcripts of interviews in which Scott said that the prisoner’s vital signs were intact until he stopped breathing.
“You can lie about the fact that you killed the ISIS prisoner because you don’t want Chief Gallagher to go to jail,” Lt. John continued.
“I don’t want him to go to jail,” Scott fired back.
The “tall, imposing” defense counsel Parlatore shot up and accused the prosecutors of never asking Scott about the cause of death, with the intent of sending Gallagher to jail.
Charges remain
Despite Scott’s testimony, the Navy said that the charges against Gallagher would remain. Gallagher has also been accused of shooting two civilians and opening fire on Iraqi civilians, all of which he has denied. “The government will not be dropping premeditated murder charges against Chief Petty Officer Gallagher despite Petty Officer Scott’s testimony. The credibility of a witness is for the jury to decide,” Navy spokesperson Brian O’Rourke said Thursday
Gallagher’s lawyer said that he is “expecting a not-guilty verdict.”
Gallagher served in Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times. He was a decorated soldier before he was arrested in September 2018 for war crimes that were allegedly committed during his last tour of duty in 2017. The Navy launched its investigation in April of 2018.
The defense has alleged that the charges against Gallagher were made up by angry comrades who didn’t want him to get promoted. “We’ve been patiently waiting for the truth to come out and we’ve heard from a lot of people who are intent and have colluded for over two years to take down my husband, so to hear today that someone finally had the bravery to stand up for the truth was refreshing after all of these years,” his wife Andrea Gallagher said at a press conference.
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