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After Navy SEAL Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher was unlawfully detained, denied treatment for medical treatment for traumatic brain injury, saw his wife and family publicly ridiculed and was spied on by corrupt attorneys — not to mention wrongfully accused of murder — he may finally be granted clemency by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday.

In July, all charges against Gallagher were dropped with the exception of posing in 2017 with the body of a dead Islamic State fighter near Mosul, Iraq. Gallagher never denied posing for a photo which at least 10 other service members assigned to the SEAL platoon did as well, including a commissioned officer, Navy Lt. Thomas MacNeil.

After the group photo, Gallagher and other SEALs had individual portraits taken with the corpse. Not a single one of his fellow SEALs was charged by the Navy with the same crime, or apparently even punished administratively — even though they did exactly the same thing.

 

Gallagher’s criminal defense attorney Timothy Parlatore said he is the only U.S. service member in nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq convicted of the crime of appearing in a photo with a dead enemy.

 

According to Navy Times, Parlatore filed a 14-page clemency package on October 1, which now sits on the desk of CNO Gilday. In the letter, Parlatore asks Gilday to vacate Gallagher’s conviction and administer non-judicial punishment at the Pentagon for the photo infraction.

 

This case began with false allegations, matriculated into a corrupt investigation plagued by outrageous Government conduct and utter disrespect for the U.S. Constitution, and concluded with a dearth of evidence against him at trial. From beginning to end, this case shocked the conscience of American citizens and fueled national outrage at every level. Even after his acquittal on seven out of eight specifications, Chief Gallagher faces a draconian punishment that does not fit the conduct; it will inflict unnecessary and irreparable harm on his wife, children, and the equity of the military justice system. Before this prosecution commenced, Chief Gallagher had been selected for promotion to Senior Chief, nominated for a Silver Star, and assigned to a coveted instructor position.

… all of this and more was taken away, as Chief Gallagher and his family suffered immensely throughout this process. They will always be haunted by the memories of this experience regardless of the decision you make on the final disposition of this case. We submit that having a federal felony level conviction as the result of a General Court-Martial is more than sufficient in this case, and respectfully request that you exercise appropriate discretion to allow him to retire as a Chief Petty Officer.

 

The term “miscarriage of justice” doesn’t do justice to the outrageousness of this whole mess. Gallagher is a 20-year veteran. He was in line for a promotion to senior chief, and nominated for a Silver Star for battlefield valor. He lost all of that, plus his position as an instructor at Special Operations Urban Combat School. He was demoted, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his lifetime pension, and a general court-martial conviction brands him a felon — for an act other platoon members did right next to him, at the same time.

 

“We certainly hope and trust that the CNO will review this and justice will finally be done,” Parlatore told Task & Purpose. “I’d like [Gallagher] to retire as a chief petty officer. I’d like him to have the full pension that he’s earned, and that’s it.”

Damn straight.

 

 

H/T Task and Purpose

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