Blackwater employees, Christopher Drotleff and Justin Cannon murdered two unarmed Afghan people and wounded a third in 2009. They were tried for the killings in 2010 and half of the stacked jury (see the Wayne Madson video below) acquitted them of all charges and the other half disagreed and voted for conviction - a hung jury. Prosecutors tried them again and Drotleff was found guilty of a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and has been sentenced to 3 years in prison. Cannon is to be sentenced in July in what amounts to another coverup trial. They shot and killed a passenger of a car involved in an accident of one of their own SUV - and a pedestrian who was out walking his dog with a friend. Websites like The Ranger Defense Fund were created to collect money for Drotleff and Cannon and to conjure up popular sympathy for these mercenaries and their families. "The Virginia Pilot", a U.S. government mouthpiece wrote:
"Family members were clearly upset by the decision. Drotleff's wife, who sat through every day of the trial, left the courthouse in tears. Cannon's father, also there every day, declined to comment.
The authors obviously have no sympathy for the murdered Afghans and their shattered families.
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Christopher Drotleff |
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Justin Russell Cannon |
The prosecutors alleged, "the shootings on May 5, 2009, were fueled by alcohol and anger. The case against Drotleff and Cannon only worsened afterward when they tried to cover up the crime." Witnesses said the two mercenaries had been drinking alcohol throughout the day before they opened fire on the unarmed civilians. Other media friendly to these two killers claimed they are "sacrificial lambs" hung out to dry by their employer - the U.S. government. We say yes - sacrificial lambs drunk on booze and bloodlust, armed to the teeth and trained to kill. But we have no argument with their claim that they are being sacrificed in faux courts to give the impression that their killings are any worse than the murders of millions by the U.S. government Afghanistan and Iraq, many never identified and buried in mass graves.
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| Blackwater mercenary killer, Christopher Drotleff, sentenced to 3 years and 1 month on a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter. |
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| Blackwater mercenary killer, Justin Russell Cannon to be sentenced on the same conviction on July 27, 2011. |
RT News interviewed investigative journalist, Wayne Madsen who provides details of how Blackwater protects their own by "grey mailing" and how the CIA protects Blackwater killers, including Drotleff and Cannon by "jury shopping" and "judge shopping" to obtain the results they want.
In the video above, Wayne Madsen says U.S. District Court Judges T.S. Ellis and Ricardo Urbina "have long-standing relationships with the CIA and this is known as 'judge shopping'." Other judges in the system indirectly channel government-sensitive cases to these two men.
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| Judge T.S. Ellis III presiding over the Blackwater case in US District Court in Alexandria, VA, "A favorite court of the CIA with their 'rocket docket'." | Judge Ricardo Urbina who dismissed charges against the 4 Blackwater killers in Iraq in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. |
We pray that some day those ultimately responsible for these two murders will be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned - the Neocons and Neolibs, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pentagon, CIA, owners of private corporations like Blackwater and two U.S. Presidents, George Walker Bush and Barack Obama - will one day be tried for an illegal invasion and occupation, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Think this is can never happen? Prior to September 11, 2011 none of us thought possible what we have seen happen in the world over the last ten years. Therefore, we cannot predict what will happen in the future. You personally may think that you are insignificant and helpless to do anything. Everyone can think creatively and do something no matter how big or small. We must do what each of us can to add our own brick in the wall to see that justice will be done, from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to Palestine, Libya and other countries where the U.S., NATO, Israel and the international banking cartel press on to advance their terrorist war on "terrorism."
- Les Blough, Editor
Ex-Blackwater guard sentenced to 37 months for Afghan’s death
By Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON — A former Blackwater security guard was sentenced to three years and one month in prison Tuesday for involuntary manslaughter in a Kabul shooting in 2009, the US Justice Department announced.
Christopher Drotleff, 31, and Justin Cannon, 29, another former Blackwater employee, were convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter of Romal Mohammad Naiem, an unarmed Afghan civilian. Cannon will be sentenced on June 27.
Both men fired several multiple shots at a passing car after the lead vehicle in their convoy crashed in the middle of the night and overturned on its side.
Naiem, the passenger in the car, was fatally shot, and his driver injured. Another Afghan man walking his dog in the area was also fatally shot, although both men were acquitted of charges in his death and the shooting of the driver.
Both Drotleff and Cannon said they had legitimate concerns for their safety, and had pleaded not guilty.
"Christopher Drotleff recklessly fired his nine millimeter pistol at unarmed Afghan civilians, killing two people and shattering the lives of many more," said US Attorney Neil MacBride in a statement.
According to the statement, both Drotleff and Cannon left their military base on May 5, 2009 to transport local translators when the accident took place.
Blackwater was renamed Xe after it was caught up in several scandals in Iraq, in particular the deaths of between 14 and 17 civilians in Baghdad in September 2007.
Source: AFP via Raw Story