Eddie Gallagher (Navy SEAL)

Gallagher and his wife are authors of the book, The Man in the Arena: From Fighting Isis to Fighting for My Freedom published by Ballast Books (2021) .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}ISBN 9781733428002.

In 2021, Gallagher said on the podcast The Line, although he did not stab the ISIS fighter, "[the ISIS fighter] was killed by us, and that nobody at that time, had a problem with it", and the group performed medical procedures on the prisoner which killed him (including inserting an emergency airway into the ISIS fighter's throat, "just for practice"). Gallagher's attorney during the court-martial, Tim Parlatore, said this was not new information as the prisoner was going to die regardless owing to the injuries sustained and said that Gallagher misspoke as none of the procedures shortened the prisoner's life.

In March 2020, David Martin of CBS News interviewed Gallagher, his wife, and his attorney on the CBS program 60 Minutes.

He was interviewed in 2020 by former Navy SEAL and current K9 trainer Mike Ritland on YouTube. Gallagher openly discussed topics including his career, the raid upon his home, pre-trial confinement, legal proceedings, acquittal, retirement, and his life and family.

On July 2, 2019, Gallagher was convicted of posing for a photograph with the corpse of an ISIS fighter, but was acquitted of all other charges after Special Operator Corey Scott, a member of Gallagher’s team granted immunity as a witness against Gallagher, testified that he had killed the prisoner.

In March 2019, former Navy SEAL and U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas and seventeen other Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote a letter to then-Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer asking for Gallagher's pre-trial confinement to be reviewed. On March 30, President Donald J. Trump intervened and ordered Gallagher transferred to "less restrictive confinement" after complaints from his supporters, particularly commentators on Fox and Friends, about his detainment. This was the first time a President directly intervened in an imprisonment conditions matter since President Richard Nixon intervened in favor of Lieutenant William Calley, one of the perpetrators of the My Lai Massacre, by ordering him released from a military brig to house arrest in 1971.

In May 2019, defense lawyers accused the prosecution of sending both them and Navy Times reporter Carl Prine an email that included a Web beacon. People who viewed the original email or a forward of this email would likely load the image through their mail-reading program (electronic mail, or e-mail client), which would record where it came from; this allows for imperfect monitoring of who has seen an email, without installing any software. It has been speculated that this image was intended to find leakers violating the judge's gag order, as reporters (including Prine) have repeatedly scooped private documents related to the case. As a result of the spying controversy, the judge ordered Gallagher freed from prison while awaiting trial as a remedy to interference from the prosecution. The judge later ordered that the chief prosecutor, Commander Christopher Czaplak, be dismissed from the case and replaced as a result of the incident.

On May 8, 2019, former Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican, showed combat video footage from a helmet camera to a group of legislators that he said exonerated Gallagher of one of the charges against him. Hunter told reporters that he intended to ask for a presidential pardon if Gallagher was convicted. According to anonymous administration sources, the Justice Department was reviewing Gallagher's case in preparation for a possible pardon from President Trump. This potential pardon was hotly criticized in the Washington Post's opinion pages. During a podcast interview on May 28, 2019 Hunter said that he himself had posed for pictures with a dead enemy combatant and that American artillery fire had killed "hundreds" of Iraqi civilians in and around Fallujah.

On June 20, 2019, during Gallagher's trial, one of the platoon medics from Gallagher's team testifying as a prosecution witness said that although Gallagher did stab the ISIS fighter, he did not actually kill him. The medic, Special Operator First Class Corey Scott who testified under an immunity agreement, testified that he himself had killed the wounded prisoner by covering his breathing tube and asphyxiating him. Scott called it a "mercy killing" and argued that the victim would have been tortured by Iraqi personnel due to his connection to the Islamic State. Following Scott's confession, prosecutors canceled other witnesses they had planned to call, fearing their testimony would further undermine their case.

The jury for Gallagher's court-martial was composed of five enlisted men, including a Navy SEAL and four Marines, plus a Navy commander and a Marine chief warrant officer, after the defense had rejected several other candidates. On July 2, 2019, they acquitted him on six of the seven original charges but found him guilty of the seventh charge of "wrongfully posing for an unofficial picture with a human casualty". That charge carried a maximum prison sentence of four months. Since Gallagher had already served more time during his pre-trial confinement, he was released.

After the trial, it was considered possible that Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Corey Scott, the SEAL Medic whose surprise testimony dismantled the prosecution's case, would be prosecuted for perjury; however, Chief of Naval Operations John M. Richardson stripped Navy prosecutors of their authority to charge Scott with perjury. The same jury that tried Gallagher sentenced him on July 3, 2019, for posing with the corpse. The jury gave Gallagher, who had already served the maximum prison time for this charge, a demotion from Chief Petty Officer (E-7) to Petty Officer First Class (E-6); this was lighter than other potential punishments, such as an Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharge, which were not handed down. President Trump congratulated Gallagher on his acquittal over Twitter. Four weeks later, President Trump announced over Twitter he had directed the Secretary of the Navy to revoke Navy Achievement Medals given to members of the prosecution team that oversaw Gallagher's case.

After the closure of the case, Gallagher and his initial lawyer entered a dispute in August 2019. According to his first lawyer, Colby Vokey, Gallagher did not pay Vokey's specified rate, and he filed an arbitration claim against Gallagher. According to Gallagher, Vokey performed no useful services and was bilking him. Gallagher cut ties with Vokey and the United American Patriots in March 2019 and directed supporters to use a different non-profit to raise funds for his defense, the Navy SEALs Fund.

Gallagher and his lawyers made an appeal for clemency at the conclusion of the court martial; such requests are frequently made, although rarely successful. Due to the charged nature of the case, this request went high up the chain of command. The request was initially rejected by Rear Admiral Bette Bolivar. After President Trump brought the issue up at a meeting with Chief of Naval Operations John M. Richardson, Admiral Richardson took up the request personally. After Richardson's retirement in August 2019, his replacement Admiral Michael M. Gilday took ownership of the request. Gilday eventually partially granted the request in October 2019: he reduced the punishment from a full demotion to a one-rank demotion to special operator first class, as the jury had recommended, rather than the default demotion to Seaman Recruit (E-1). This would result in an improvement to Gallagher's pension and retirement benefits. According to a former Navy prosecutor, the top admiral in the Navy directly handling such a matter is extremely rare, but not unmerited due to the high profile of the case.

The clemency decision ended up moot: in November 2019, President Trump announced that Gallagher's demotion would be reversed. A week earlier, Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer had sent Trump a note asking him not to intervene again. The president's move also favored several other military members accused of misconduct: in addition to Gallagher, Lieutenant Clint Lorance was ordered freed; and the prosecution of Matthew Golsteyn was ended.

On November 24, 2019, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he had learned that Spencer made a private offer to the White House that if the White House did not interfere, he would guarantee that Gallagher would keep his Trident pin. This offer contradicted Spencer's public position and was kept secret from Esper. Esper immediately fired Spencer for going outside the chain of command. The next day (Nov. 25) Esper said that Trump had ordered him to allow Gallagher to keep his Trident Pin, so that Gallagher remained a SEAL until his retirement at the end of November 2019. Also on November 25, Trump told reporters that Gallagher "was one of the ultimate fighters". Gallagher's case was scheduled for a hearing by the Navy SEAL review board on December 2, 2019.

At the end of November 2019, Gallagher retired from the Navy with full honors, pension, and medical benefits. Following his Navy career, Gallagher began commercial ventures including an action figure, clothing line and nutritional supplement endorsements.

On September 11, 2018, Gallagher was arrested at Camp Pendleton and charged with premeditated murder, attempted murder, obstruction of justice, and other offenses. On October 18, Lieutenant Jacob Portier of Gallagher's platoon was also charged with failing to properly notify his superiors within the chain of command, to include the destruction of evidence. Gallagher pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

During his eighth deployment in 2017, Gallagher's aggressiveness seemed to be amplified during the Battle for Mosul. Here, his mission was to serve in an advisory role, versus taking part in direct action. Gallagher was the subject of a number of reports from fellow SEAL team members, stating that his actions were not in keeping with the rules of war, but these reports were dismissed by the SEAL command structure. Only after the reports gained visibility outside the SEAL community, were they acted upon and referred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

Prosecutors alleged that Gallagher's sniper work during his 2017 deployment became "reckless" and "bloodthirsty". He allegedly fired his rifle far more frequently than other snipers; according to testimony, the other snipers in the platoon did not consider him a good sniper, and he took "random shots" into buildings. Other snipers said they witnessed Gallagher taking at least two militarily pointless shots, shooting and killing an unarmed old man in a white robe as well as a young girl walking with other girls. Gallagher allegedly boasted about the large number of people he had killed, claiming he averaged three kills a day over 80 days, including four women. Gallagher also was reportedly known for indiscriminately spraying neighborhoods with rockets and machine gun fire with no known enemy force in the region.

Gallagher was involved in controversies and investigations, but received few formal reprimands. He was the subject of an investigation into the shooting of a young girl in Afghanistan in 2010, but was cleared of wrongdoing after being investigated by close comrades who had deployed with him. He allegedly tried to run over a Navy police officer with his car in 2014, after being detained at a traffic stop. By 2015, Gallagher had acquired a reputation as someone who was more interested in "fighting terrorists", but less interested in complying with rules.

Edward R. Gallagher (born May 29, 1979) is a retired United States Navy SEAL who was acquitted after being accused of war crimes. He came to national attention in the United States after he was charged in September 2018 with ten offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In the most prominently reported offense, he was accused of fatally stabbing an injured 17-year-old ISIS prisoner, photographing himself with the corpse, and sending the photo to friends.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on May 29, 1979, Gallagher graduated from Bishop Dwenger High School. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1999. Gallagher had eight overseas deployments, including service in both the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He was trained as a medic, a sniper, and an explosives expert. He was the first non-Marine to graduate from the United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper School that he attended. He was attached to a U.S. Marine Corps unit until he enrolled in Basic Underwater Demolition/ SEAL (BUD/S) class 252 to become a Navy SEAL in 2005.