Blackwater security guard convicted in 2007 Iraqi civilian massacre at third U.S. trial
Source: The Washington Post
By Spencer S. Hsu and Tom Jackman December 19 at 12:19 PM
A former Blackwater security guard whose 2014 murder conviction was vacated on appeal was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday, ending the Justice Department’s long pursuit of accountability for a 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Baghdad that drew international condemnation during the Iraq War, the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington said.
A federal jury deliberated five days before finding Nicholas A. Slatten, 35, guilty of first-degree murder after a five-week trial in Washington, D.C.
It was the third time since 2014 that Slatten was on trial over the deaths at a crowded traffic circle in Baghdad’s Nisor Square on Sept. 16, 2007.
The outcome brings a muted end to an incident that triggered diplomatic and humanitarian protests over the U.S. government’s use of private military forces and marked one of the lowest points of the Iraq War.
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Referring to Slatten, prosecutor Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez told jurors, “You know that this man took this sniper rifle, and through this scope he took aim at Ahmed’s head and he fired. Boom. And he fired again. Boom. And why?” Campoamor-Sanchez said in his closing argument. “Because, ladies and gentlemen, he thought he could get away with it. Nobody would know. He would never have to answer to people like you sitting in this jury room today.”
