08
Dec 08Erik, Prince of Darkness.
Five Blackwater guards have finally been charged in Baghdad’s September 2007 shootings. In case you forgot…
Seventeen Iraqis were killed in the September 2007 shooting. Witnesses said the heavily armed U.S. contractors opened fire unprovoked, killing innocent motorists and children at a crowded intersection. Blackwater, the largest security contractor in Iraq, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.
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The indicted guards are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn.; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.
A sixth weaseled his way into a plea deal.
In a stunning admission of his own wrongdoing made public today, Jeremy Ridgeway, 35, agreed to plead guilty to one count of manslaughter, attempt to commit murder and aiding and abetting.
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Justice officials revealed shocking new details of the attacks at a DOJ press conference today, which they said included shooting a grenade into a nearby girl’s school and the killing of an Iraqi man who has his hands up in the air.All of the victims were unarmed and none were insurgents, officials said.
Blackwater charges: 14 counts of manslaughter (AP)
Blackwater Guard in Secret Deal to Testify in Massacre Case (ABC)