Retired Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, acquitted of murder, is now opening up about a highly controversial photo he took with a dead ISIS prisoner.
Gallagher made his comments during an interview with the CBS show, “60 Minutes.”
The interview will air on Sunday.
Gallagher was cleared of murder, but convicted of posing with an enemy dead to the detriment of good order. In the interview, Gallagher called the photo incident “wrong” and “distasteful.”
CBS noted that he had sent the photo to a friend with the text: “Got him with my hunting knife."
In the interview, Gallagher said: "It's wrong I'll say it's wrong now. And I've definitely learned… my lesson… It's distasteful."
He denied the text meant he stabbed the prisoner. "It was like a joke text, dark humor," he said. "I was trying to make it look tough… Yeah, I know how bad it looks when it gets out into the public, which it never was supposed to."
"I'm pretty sure I'm the first person ever to go to a general court-martial for it, for taking a picture.”
Two members of his platoon testified they saw Gallagher stab the prisoner in the neck. But one of the accusers under cross-examination admitted that he had actually killed the prisoner.
President Donald Trump restored Gallagher’s rank and pay, allowing him to retire on a full pension.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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