Navy tosses war crimes case against SEAL’s platoon leader

By Brian Melley And Julie Watson, The Associated Press

Posted Aug 1, 2019 08:23:18 PM.

This article is more than 5 years old.

SAN DIEGO — The Navy has dismissed charges against an officer for allegedly not reporting war crimes by a Navy SEAL who was later acquitted of murder.

A Navy official with knowledge of the decision not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the charges against Lt. Jacob Portier were dropped Thursday.

The action comes a month after a military jury cleared Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of murder in a trial that got President Donald Trump’s attention.

Portier, Gallagher’s platoon leader, faced charges of dereliction of duty, destruction of evidence and holding Gallagher’s re-enlistment ceremony next to the corpse of a teen Islamic State militant the decorated SEAL had been accused of stabbing to death after treating the boy’s wounds.

Gallagher was convicted of a single charge of posing for photos with the 17-year-old militant’s corpse.

Brian Melley And Julie Watson, The Associated Press

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