{"id":48369,"date":"2019-05-09T01:07:32","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T01:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/09\/pardoned-ex-soldier-initially-didnt-take-white-house-call\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:00:55","slug":"pardoned-ex-soldier-initially-didnt-take-white-house-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/09\/pardoned-ex-soldier-initially-didnt-take-white-house-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Pardoned ex-soldier initially didn\u2019t take White House call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 A former U.S. soldier from Oklahoma who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/07\/trump-pardons-former-us-soldier-who-killed-iraqi-prisoner\/\" target=_blank>pardoned this week<\/a> for his 2009 conviction for killing an Iraqi prisoner said Wednesday that he initially didn\u2019t answer the White House\u2019s phone call to tell him of the pardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/04\/17\/oklahoma-ag-asks-trump-to-pardon-soldier-convicted-of-killing-iraqi-prisoner\/\" target=\"_blank\">Army 1st Lt. Michael Behenna<\/a> said he was on the phone with his father, retired FBI agent Scott Behenna, when the call came about 2:30 p.m. Monday as he was driving. He didn\u2019t recognize the number and thought it might be a telemarketer, so he let it go to voicemail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After checking his messages, he returned the call and was told President Donald Trump was granting him a pardon and would call him back. When Behenna\u2019s phone rang again, it was Trump\u2019s office putting the president on the line so he could tell Behenna personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI had tears in my eyes, my heart\u2019s beating fast and I\u2019m smiling from ear to ear. I had a feeling I knew what it was for,\u201d the 35-year-old Behenna said, adding that the call was a surprise because he expected his attorneys to inform him of the decision instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/07\/trumps-pardon-of-us-soldier-is-an-endorsement-of-a-war-crimes-says-aclu\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_08092101481.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump\u2019s pardon of US soldier is an endorsement of war crimes, says ACLU<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cThis pardon is a presidential endorsement of a murder that violated the military\u2019s own code of justice,\u201d Hina Shamsi, the ACLU\u2019s national security project director, said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna was convicted in 2009 of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone in the 2008 killing of Ali Mansur Mohamed, an unarmed Iraqi prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna said he acted in self-defense when the man reached for Behenna\u2019s handgun, but the Army said the argument didn\u2019t hold up because Behenna was pointing his weapon at the prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna admitted during his trial that instead of taking the prisoner home as he was ordered, he took the man to a railroad culvert, stripped him, then questioned him at gunpoint about a roadside bombing that had killed two members of Behenna\u2019s platoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A military appeals court in 2012 found that jury instructions on self-defense were incorrect and that prosecutors failed to tell the defense of a crime scene expert who supported the claim of self-defense, but the court said the errors were harmless and did not affect the outcome of the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I was told by President Trump &#8230; was that I received a pardon because of the prosecutorial misconduct that happened during the trial,\u201d Behenna said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"945\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg?resize=300,177 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg?resize=768,454 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,605 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19128622802377.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,907 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Michael Behenna, center, stands with his brother Brett Behenna, right, and his mother Vicki Behenna, left, during a news conference Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Oklahoma City. Behenna has been pardoned from his 2009 conviction for killing an Iraqi prisoner. (Sue Ogrocki\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first person he told about the pardon was his father, who didn\u2019t believe him. Scott Behenna recalled later that after talking to his son, he called the same number and was put in touch with a White House attorney who assured him the pardon was real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna\u2019s mother, former federal prosecutor Vicki Behenna, stood waiting outside her son\u2019s vehicle after he had parked, unaware of the topic of his phone conversations. Once he told her, she also didn\u2019t believe him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna, a native of the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, said he initially planned on a career in the military, but is now focused on a 20-acre (8-hectare) cattle ranch he owns in Guthrie, where he lives about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters of Behenna\u2019s pardon request include Oklahoma Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford, both Republicans, and Republican state Attorney General Mike Hunter, who twice sent a letter to Trump, urging that a pardon be granted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Breen, president and CEO of Human Rights First, which describes itself as an organization that urges &#8220;the U.S. government and private companies to respect human rights and the rule of law,&#8221; criticized the decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s pardon of a service member convicted of murder by the U.S. military undermines the morale of our armed forces, erodes our allies\u2019 trust of the armed services overseas and \u2014 by showing that we won\u2019t hold our forces to the same standards we demand of others \u2014 places our service members in greater danger in combat zones and beyond,\u201d Breen said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behenna said he has maintained contact with several soldiers he served with in Iraq and that many have called him since Monday to say his pardon was overdue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former U.S. soldier from Oklahoma who was pardoned this week for his 2009 conviction for killing an Iraqi prisoner said Wednesday that he initially didn\u2019t answer the White House\u2019s phone call to tell him of the pardon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":86208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","middle-column","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","home","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[100,23,92,93,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3034],"class_list":["post-48369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"63AQAE4WI5B7LHE6TKTG4WW53U","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/09\/pardoned-ex-soldier-initially-didnt-take-white-house-call\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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