Retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher lashes out at ‘coward’ platoon

Retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher has lashed out at the ‘coward’ members of his former platoon who testified against him at his war crimes trial and warns that the real truth is still coming.

Gallagher, a former Special Operations Chief, took aim at members of his former Team 7 Alpha Platoon in a three-minute video he posted on Facebook and Instagram on Monday. 

The 40-year-old unleashed on his former team about a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators about Gallagher. 

The SEALs described their platoon leader as ‘evil,’ ‘toxic’ and ‘perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving’ in the footage obtained by The New York Times.

Retired Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher (pictured with wife Andrea) took aim at members of his former Team 7 Alpha Platoon in a three-minute video he posted on Facebook and Instagram on Monday

The interviews were conducted before Gallagher was charged in September 2018 – and then later acquitted – of war crimes, including the murder of a wounded ISIS fighter in Iraq. 

Gallagher used clips of his former platoon members being interviewed by investigators in the video that he posted on social media.  

He highlighted the names and ranks of the SEALs alongside their photos.  

‘My entire adult life I’ve had the honor and privilege of fighting for this country,’ Gallagher said in the video.  

‘Even though I went to trial, exposed all the lies about me by certain cowards in my platoon and found not guilty, there are those to this day who refuse to accept that fact. 

‘The fight to clear my name is not over. 

‘The truth has never been fully exposed about what really happened. You may think you know, but you have no idea.

‘For those who continue to slander my name, the truth is coming.’ 

Gallagher’s war crimes case gained national attention after Donald Trump intervened on his behalf despite strong objections from Pentagon leaders who said the president’s move could damage the integrity of the military judicial system. 

It comes about a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators regarding Gallagher

It comes about a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators regarding Gallagher

It comes about a month after previously unseen video emerged of the SEALs being interviewed by naval criminal investigators regarding Gallagher 

The SEALs described their platoon leader as 'evil,' 'toxic' and 'perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving' in the footage obtained by The New York Times

The SEALs described their platoon leader as 'evil,' 'toxic' and 'perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving' in the footage obtained by The New York Times

The SEALs described their platoon leader as ‘evil,’ ‘toxic’ and ‘perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving’ in the footage obtained by The New York Times 

The footage of the SEALs’ interviews was part of a trove of confidential Navy investigative materials that the NYT obtained about the prosecution of Gallagher.

They were all part of the investigative files used in Gallagher’s high-profile trial this summer. 

The interviews painted a picture of Gallagher, who was their platoon chief during a 2017 deployment to Iraq, being a reckless leader who had a hunger for violence.  

‘The guy is freaking evil,’ Special Operator First Class Craig Miller told investigators during his interview.

In a separate interview, Special Operator First Class Joshua Vriens said: ‘The guy was toxic.’

Special Operator First Class Corey Scott, who was a medic, was recorded saying: ‘You could tell he was perfectly okay with killing anybody that was moving.’ 

‘I think he just wants to kill anybody he can,’ Scott added elsewhere in his interview.

Some described him as ‘getting crazier and crazier’ and also that they’d heard rumors of Gallagher ‘targeting civilians’.

‘I saw Eddie take a shot at, probably, a 12-year-old,’ one said in their interview. 

Three SEALS told investigators in their interviews that they saw Gallagher stab a wounded ISIS fighter in the neck during a 2017 deployment to Iraq.

‘I saw it happen,’ Petty Officer 2nd Class Ivan Villanueva said in his interview.

It was these interviews that led to Gallagher being charged with murder. 

Following his trial, a military jury acquitted Gallagher of all charges except one, posing in photos with the dead ISIS captive. He is pictured above holding up the slain captive's head

Following his trial, a military jury acquitted Gallagher of all charges except one, posing in photos with the dead ISIS captive. He is pictured above holding up the slain captive’s head

Gallagher has always maintained that the charges brought against him were made up by six members of his platoon who wanted to force him out

Gallagher has always maintained that the charges brought against him were made up by six members of his platoon who wanted to force him out

Gallagher has always maintained that the charges brought against him were made up by six members of his platoon who wanted to force him out. 

Following the release of the videos, Gallagher – in a statement through his lawyer – said: ‘My first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me, but I quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment.

‘I felt sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be. As upset as I was, the videos also gave me confidence because I knew that their lies would never hold up under real questioning and the jury would see through it. Their lies and N.C.I.S.’s refusal to ask hard questions or corroborate their stories strengthened my resolve to go to trial and clear my name.’

Scott, one of the SEALS who was interviewed in the videos, later changed his story when he was called to testify during Gallagher’s trial.

He had told the investigators that he saw Gallagher stab the wounded ISIS fighter multiple times before he died.

At the time, Scott and Gallagher were treating the fighter after he had been injured in an airstrike.

During the trial, Scott changed his story and admitted to suffocating the fighter by covering his breathing tube after Gallagher only stabbed him once.

Some of the SEALS who were interviewed by investigators were never called to testify during Gallagher’s trial.

Following the trial, a military jury acquitted Gallagher of all war crimes charges except one, posing in photos with the dead captive.

Gallagher was demoted but was later allowed to keep his Trident Pin and retire a SEAL following Trump’s intervention. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk