{"id":36280,"date":"2023-03-15T18:51:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T18:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/15\/panel-acquits-us-airman-of-2022-insider-attack-in-syria\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:15:47","slug":"panel-acquits-us-airman-of-2022-insider-attack-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/2023\/03\/15\/panel-acquits-us-airman-of-2022-insider-attack-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Panel acquits US airman of 2022 insider attack in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was updated at 11:35 p.m. on March 15 to include a comment from the Air Force.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An American airman accused of attacking his fellow troops on a U.S. military outpost in Syria last year was acquitted of all charges Wednesday at the end of an eight-day court-martial, a civilian attorney advising the defendant told Air Force Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force Tech. Sgt. David Dezwaan, an enlisted explosive ordnance disposal technician with the active-duty 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, was charged with three violations of military code: destruction of military property; reckless endangerment, and aggravated assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. government argued that Dezwaan set up explosives that injured four service members \u2014 including himself \u2014 at Green Village, a small U.S. military base in northern Syria, in April 2022. The airman, who had served as his squadron\u2019s noncommissioned officer in charge of EOD equipment, was deployed as an explosives specialist at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around $50,000 worth of military equipment was destroyed in the blasts, which struck after 1 a.m. local time, the publication Coffee or Die reported in September<\/a>. Military lawyers used soil samples, bomb fragments and metal shavings to make their case against Dezwaan.<\/p>\n\n\n\t