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2 US Navy SEALs Charged in War Crime Probe: Navy Times

Two San Diego-based U.S. Navy SEALs are charged in a war crimes case tied to the execution of an Islamic State detainee in Iraq last year, according to the U.S. Navy Times.

Lt. Jacob β€œJake” Portier faces an Article 32 hearing on suspicion he covered up a string of war crimes allegedly committed by Special Operations Chief Edward β€œEddie” Gallagher.

Gallagher was arrested on Sept. 11 at the Camp Pendleton Intrepid Spirit Center on charges including murder, aggravated assault and murder, according to his attorney Phil Stackhouse.

Both SEALs have said they are innocent.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe is looking into the death of a wounded Islamic State fighter near Mosul, Iraq in May 2017.

Prosecutors allege Gallagher stabbed the wounded man until he died, posed for a photograph next to the body and opted to complete his reenlistment ceremony next to the corpse which brought β€œdiscredit upon the armed forces,” according to the published report.

He also faces allegations he shot two noncombatant people.

Portier, who is accused of dereliction of duty, was not present at the time of the homicide, according to the report.

Gallagher is accused of encouraging members of his platoon to stay quiet about what happened in Iraq, the Navy Times reporter Carl Prine writes. Those conversations allegedly took place in and around San Diego between April and September when he was arrested, he reports.

Prine reports the NCIS investigation targets several SEALs who deployed to Iraq between 2017 and early 2018 as well as senior enlisted and commissioned leaders in Naval Special Warfare Group 1.

Naval Special Warfare spokeswoman Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence confirmed charges against Gallagher and Portier have been preferred but declined to give details to "maintain the integrity of the investigation."

"A service member currently assigned to a Naval Special Warfare unit is under investigation by NCIS for professional misconduct while deployed to Iraq in 2017," she said in a statement to NBC 7. "We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and will cooperate fully with investigative authorities."

The Navy SEALs Fund Brotherhood Beyond Battlefield has launched a fundraising campaign for Gallagher who served eight tours of duty with six as an elite special forces operator.

Gallagher has served 19 years in the U.S. Navy and more than 14 years as a Navy SEAL, his attorney said.

In 2017, Gallagher was ranked as the top SEAL chief and his platoon was ranked as the top SEAL platoon, the website said. 

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