{"id":31438,"date":"2019-02-02T17:35:01","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T17:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/02\/war-crimes-prosecution-against-navy-seals-takes-a-double-hit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:33:16","slug":"war-crimes-prosecution-against-navy-seals-takes-a-double-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/02\/02\/war-crimes-prosecution-against-navy-seals-takes-a-double-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"War crimes prosecution against Navy SEALs takes a double hit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Navy SEAL who allegedly staged a re-enlistment ceremony over the body of a dead Islamic State prisoner during the Battle of Mosul in Iraq and also hovered a drone over the corpse may have acted in \u201cpoor taste\u201d but didn\u2019t commit a war crime, a Navy judge has ruled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, two military judges delivered a pair of big wins for two Navy SEALs on trial for alleged war crimes by tossing out key charges against the special operator at the center of the case, Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher<\/a>, and the officer in charge of his platoon, Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier, who stands accused of covering up the incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher is accused of stabbing to death a wounded Islamic State prisoner of war and attempting to shoot innocent civilians with his sniper rifle near Mosul in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also among the allegations is that Gallagher staged the re-enlistment ceremony over the dead ISIS teenager\u2019s body <\/a>near the Iraqi city of Mosul on May 3, 2017, amid some of the U.S. forces fiercest fighting against ISIS. Prosecutors also say he hovered a drone over the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the military judge, Navy Capt. Aaron Rugh<\/a>, determined that those are not prohibited acts under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That ruling is also likely to be a big win for platoon leader Portier, who also faces a raft of charges alleging that he covered up his chief petty officer\u2019s war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military prosecutors charged Portier with lying to his superior officer, Lt. Cmdr. Robert Breisch, about whether he saw \u201canything criminal\u201d at Gallagher\u2019s reenlistment ceremony. Portier allegedly said: \u201cThere was nothing criminal. It was just in poor taste,\u201d according to investigative files obtained by Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the judge overseeing Portier\u2019s separate court martial case agrees with Rugh, however, then Portier told the truth and his charge must be tossed out, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is honorable for a Navy SEAL to reenlist on the battlefield, the same battlefield where he was willing to sacrifice his own life to protect our nation,\u201d Portier\u2019s civilian defense attorney, Jeremiah J. Sullivan III, told Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Special Operations Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher, a highly decorated Navy SEAL, is fighting murder charges tied to the death of an Islamic State operative in Iraq. (photos provided)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

SEAL \u201crock stars\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of the sprawling war crimes investigation is murky, but appears to have started with allegations lodged by a special warfare operator first class \u2014 an SO1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the clandestine work performed by SEALs overseas, authorities have asked Navy Times to not publish some of the names involved in the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way the SO1 recollected events \u2014 and reported them to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents \u2014 the seeds of the scandal began to grow in Iraq in 2017, when he and others from SEAL Team 7\u2019s Platoon Alpha voiced concerns about Gallagher\u2019s conduct, according to an NCIS \u201cinvestigative action\u201d provided to Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SO1 and others talked \u201cabout what they should do to stop [Gallagher] from killing innocent civilians while they were deployed to Iraq\u201d according to the NCIS file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SO1 said that platoon snipers \u201cbegan shooting warning shots at any civilians they saw on the battlefield so that the civilians would run away and [Gallagher] could not kill them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SO1 said that he had reported war crime allegations committed by Gallagher to both Portier, the platoon commander, and another lieutenant, the platoon\u2019s Assistant Officer in Charge, or AOIC, who also has emerged as one of the key witnesses against both the lieutenant and his chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Portier and his AOIC assured the SO1 \u201cthat something was being done about the situation,\u201d according to an NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they never seemed to do anything, so in the autumn of 2017 the SO1 confided with a master chief petty officer at SEAL Team 7 about the allegations, the report indicates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities also asked Navy Times not to publish the master chief\u2019s name, but he was a troop chief, the next enlisted leader above Gallagher in his chain of command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allegations of war crimes against Gallagher came as a shock to the troop chief, who later told NCIS agents he considered Gallagher and his Platoon Alpha SEALs to be \u201crock stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The seriously wounded Islamic State fighter, believed to be between 15 and 17 years of age, military prosecutors believe was murdered by a Navy SEAL. (screen shot of YouTube video used as evidence in criminal hearing)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A platoon\u2019s \u201chate and discontent\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief told investigators he\u2019d mentored Gallagher over the phone in Iraq but had never taken disciplinary actions against him, even after the platoon chief had been accused of stealing nutrition bars from another SEAL\u2019s gift bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief recalled serving as sniper Gallagher\u2019s spotter during a brief visit to Alpha when they were operating near the Tigris River in an area known as \u201cOld Mosul.\u201d During his interview, an NCIS agent told him that Gallagher was alleged to have made it his priority \u201cto shoot as many people as possible with his sniper rifle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief said \u201che could see [Gallagher] doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was only after the deployment ended that the troop chief began to realize Gallagher\u2019s platoon was riven by \u201chate and discontent,” he told investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief said he urged Gallagher to talk to his platoon to make things right and thought the unspecified issues \u201chad been solved but he started getting calls from platoon members about (Gallagher).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was then that the SO1 alluded to possible war crimes committed by Gallagher, the troop chief told investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief said that he repeated the allegations to both Group 1 Command Master Chief Steve Ward and Lt. Cmdr. Breisch, an officer in Gallagher\u2019s chain of command and the troop chief\u2019s boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After consulting with the group\u2019s judge advocate general, the SEAL leaders decided that those who said they witnessed the war crimes should come forward and make official statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief told investigators that it was during a March 18, 2018, briefing about that decision with six current or former members of Platoon Alpha that he first learned the specific allegation that Gallagher stabbed to death a detainee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troop chief warned them that the \u201cfrag radius\u201d of that and other allegations \u201cwould be significant\u201d and likely hit other SEALs and their officers with disciplinary action, according to the NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, the SO1 who lodged the initial allegations told NCIS agents that he\u2019d previously gone to Portier and said a formal probe needed to be launched. He also \u201cthreatened to tell more people if an investigation did not occur,\u201d according to the NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the investigation got underway, the SO1 had a meeting with Portier on April 6, 2018, and said he told Portier to send NCIS an email outlining some of the explosive allegations. The SO1 said he leaned over Portier\u2019s shoulder as he typed out the email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon afterward, an NCIS agent contacted the SO1 for an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A member of the Iraqi federal police awaits his next movement on the streets of the recently secured airport during the offensive to liberate West Mosul, Iraq, March 2, 2017. The breadth and diversity of partners supporting the Coalition demonstrate the global and unified nature of the endeavor to defeat ISIS. Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve is the global Coalition to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jason Hull)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A platoon percolating with \u201crumors\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But others in the NCIS investigative report don\u2019t remember it exactly like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Lt. Cmdr. Breisch told investigators that he began hearing \u201crumors\u201d in the summer of 2017 that members of Gallagher\u2019s platoon were unhappy with his actions in Iraq, especially the \u201ctactical decisions he made\u201d there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breisch said he talked directly to the SO1 in October of 2017 during the Mosul deployment and the SO1 never mentioned war crime violations, according to his interview records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, Breisch said that the SO1 complained that Gallagher was going to be awarded a Silver Star for combat valor, calling it \u201cunconscionable because (Gallagher) had lied about the incidents described.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also repeated accusations that Gallagher rifled through other SEALs’ care packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breisch told him \u201cto decompress and let it go,” according to the NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Breisch later began hearing about possible crimes committed by Gallagher in Iraq, he called the SO1 back \u201cand asked him if there was anything criminal in nature to report.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d the SO1 told the officer, according to the NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breisch told investigators that he encouraged the SO1 to report anything criminal but \u201cif there were no actual criminal allegations, he needed to let it go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this June 23, 2014, file photo, fighters from the Islamic State group parade in a commandeered Iraqi security forces armored vehicle on the main road in Mosul, Iraq. In a statement Thursday, May 10, 2018, coalition spokesman Army Col. Ryan Dillon said that U.S.-backed Syrian forces have captured five senior Islamic State group leaders. Dillon called the arrest a “significant blow to Daesh,” using the Arabic acronym for the extremist group. (AP Photo, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A lying SEAL?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar pattern played out with Portier\u2019s fellow lieutenant in the platoon, the AOIC who is now in graduate school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Platoon Alpha\u2019s deployment to Mosul, the AOIC often shared a bedroom with Portier and Gallagher as part of a platoon leadership triad and he told an NCIS agent during a May 31, 2018, interview that he came to know both men well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agent asked the AOIC if he could guess why he was being questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told the investigator that it likely involved Gallagher stealing from care packages, some of his tactical decisions in Iraq and \u201clying to individuals,\u201d including him, \u201cabout various topics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AOIC said that he grew to dislike Gallagher during the Mosul deployment, mostly because he “was acting like a younger enlisted platoon shooter without the responsibility of being the platoon chief,\u201d according to the NCIS report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AOIC said that he urged Portier to relieve Gallagher and that the platoon commander initially appeared to agree with him, but Portier never fired his chief and discontent within the platoon continued to fester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AOIC was deep into his interview with the NCIS agent before he suddenly disclosed the allegation that Gallagher stabbed a wounded ISIS fighter to death while he was being treated for his wounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AOIC told the agent that he didn\u2019t witness the alleged murder, but the SO1 did \u201cand he reported it directly to Portier either the same day or within a few days of the event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the AOIC told the NCIS agent, \u201che first found out about the allegation from Portier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That statement doesn\u2019t seem to jibe with the SO1\u2032s recollection, which is a key reason why Portier\u2019s attorney, Sullivan, wants to question both of them under oath in a public hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\t