SAN DIEGO (AP) — A decorated Navy SEAL is facing charges of premediated murder and numerous other offenses in connection with the fatal stabbing of a teenage Islamic State prisoner under his care in Iraq in 2017, along with the shooting of unarmed Iraqi civilians.
Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher plans to plead not guilty to all the charges Friday during an arraignment hearing at Naval Base San Diego, his attorney Phil Stackhouse said.
The case stands out because of the seriousness of the allegations against an elite special warfare operator and the fact that the prosecution’s case includes the accounts of fellow Navy SEALs, an extremely tightknit group even by military standards.
Navy prosecutors have painted a picture of a highly trained fighter and medic going off the rails on his eighth deployment — indiscriminately shooting at Iraqi civilians — and stabbing to death a captured Islamic State fighter estimated to be 15 years old, and then posing with the corpse at his re-enlistment ceremony.
