The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting shot at Iraqi civilians. Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges. All four convicted were pardoned by Donald Trump in December 2020.
About Nisour Square massacre in brief
The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20. Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges; all four convicted were pardoned by Donald Trump in December 2020. The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause. The next day, Blackwater Worldwide’s license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. The U. S. State Department has said that \”innocent life was lost\”, and according to The Washington Post, a military report appeared to corroborate \”the Iraqi government’s contention that Blackwater was at fault\”. The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater. The driver of the Blackwater driver, Kia Kia, was shot once in the head by a Blackwater contractor, but prosecutors argued the men felt the men approaching as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. The Blackwater commander, Jimmy Watson, had received an order to stand by and not leave the Green Zone upon reaching a checkpoint. He was ordered to return to the traffic circle to expedite the travel of the traffic to the circle.
Shortly after, after Blackwater 23 entered the circle, the driver began firing on civilians in response to an approaching car, killing 14 and wounding twenty. The head of the driver, the head of Kia was shot dead by a contractor, despite the lack of threats, and despite the fact that the men did not face hostile gunfire when they began shooting, and continued to shoot despite a lack of threat. The case against the guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity. In April 2011, a federal appeals court reinstated the manslaughter charges against Paul A. Slough, Evan S. Liberty, Dustin L. Heard and Donald W. Ball after closed-door testimony. On January 6, 2012, Blackwater settled a lawsuit filed on behalf of six of the victims for an undisclosed sum. In December 2018, Slatten was once again convicted of murder by a jury and on August 14, 2019, again sentenced to life in prison. On December 22, 2020, all four men received federal pardons from United States president Donald Trump. A fifth guard had his charges dismissed, and a sixth guard pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. On August 4, 2017, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned Slatten’s murder conviction and ordered the other defendants to be re-sentenced. On October 22, 2014, a Federal District Court jury convicted Nick Slatten of first-degree murder, guilty of all three counts of voluntary manslaughter.
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This page is based on the article Nisour Square massacre published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 25, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
