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Trump Pardons Soldier Who Murdered Naked Unarmed Iraqi Prisoner

HeadlineMay 08, 2019

President Trump has pardoned a former U.S. soldier who was found guilty of “unpremeditated murder.” In 2008, First Lt. Michael Behenna drove an unarmed Iraqi prisoner into the desert for an interrogation. He then stripped the prisoner naked, interrogated him at gunpoint and then shot him in the head and chest. Behenna was initially sentenced to 25 years in 2009. He was released on parole in 2014. Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union criticized Trump’s move. She said, “This pardon is a presidential endorsement of a murder that violated the military’s own code of justice.”

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