A U.S. Marine officer will face a court martial more than a year after video footage surfaced on YouTube of snipers urinating on dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Capt. James Clement is the officer who oversaw the platoon involved in the video released in January 2012. He is charged with dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming of an officer, and for failing to stop the misconduct of junior marines,
NBC News reports.
Clement refused the nonjudicial punishment recommended in an April hearing, resulting in the court martial.
The captain's attorney said Clement followed his assignment faithfully that day, and that he "refuses to be a scapegoat for the political hysteria" over the video,
Marine Corps Times reports.
Clement claims in a sworn statement that he was not aware of the videos until they were made public.
Three Marines in the video pleaded guilty of charges relating to their conduct in the video and already served out nonjudicial punishments in August. Another Marine is awaiting trial.
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