The US Army on Friday dropped all charges against the fifth soldier it had accused of killing Afghan civilians for sport during a 2010 deployment.
Army Specialist Michael Wagnon, 31, had been charged with the unlawful killing of one Afghan civilian in February 2010. He had been expected to go on trial next month.
In a statement, Joint Base Lewis-McChord said the charges were dismissed “in the interest of justice.”
Wagnon’s lawyer, Colby Vokey, said his client was “ecstatic” at the news, “very, very relieved” and eager to tell his wife.
“He kept saying over and over: ‘This is great news — I can’t wait to tell Carrie,’” Vokey said.
Four other soldiers from a Lewis-McChord Stryker brigade have been sent to prison in connection with the killings of three unarmed men during patrols in Kandahar Province.
In all, 12 soldiers were charged in connection with alleged misconduct that in addition to murder included hash smoking, collection of illicit weapons, the mutilation and photography of Afghan remains and the gang-beating of a soldier who reported the drug use. Eleven soldiers were convicted on various counts.
An army investigating officer had twice recommended that prosecutors dismiss the case against Wagnon.
Vokey said he thought preparations for the impending trial “just kept developing the evidence of Michael’s innocence until it just became overwhelming.
“The witnesses coming forward that we were able to speak to all confirmed the same thing — that Michael Wagnon had nothing to do with any kind of illegal activity,” the lawyer said.
The case hinged on an account from a “kill team” participant, Specialsit Jeremy Morlock, who is serving 24 years after admitting his involvement in all three killings. Morlock testified that Wagnon knowingly participated in a scheme to kill a civilian.
Wagnon had testified that he shot at an Afghan on the day in question because he believed the man had fired a weapon at Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs. Gibbs in November was sentenced to life in prison in the killings of three Afghans, including the man in the February 2010 encounter.
Wagnon “was simply a soldier pulling security who responded to the firing of weapons and came to support another soldier,” Vokey said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese