This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates as more information becomes available.
In a stunning courtroom reveal on Thursday, a Navy SEAL medic has said under oath that he is the one who killed an injured ISIS fighter in Mosul in 2017, and not SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher – who is currently on trial facing a charge for murder.
Former NYPD police commissioner Bernie Kerik tweeted, “BREAKING NEWS!!!! US NAVY SEAL COREY SCOTT ADMITS UNDER CROSS EXAMINATION THAT HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR #ISIS DETAINEE’S DEATH in trial of Chief Eddie Gallagher.” Kerik has been working with the Gallagher family.
BREAKING NEWS!!!! US NAVY SEAL COREY SCOTT ADMITS UNDER CROSS EXAMINATION THAT HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR #ISIS DETAINEE’S DEATH in trial of Chief Eddie Gallagher.
— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) June 20, 2019
Fox News also reported that the SEAL medic, identified by Kerik as Corey Scott, testified that he killed the ISIS fighter, and not Gallagher, and that it was by “asphyxiation,” or suffocation.
However, it is also being reported that Scott saw Gallagher stab the ISIS fighter – which it has been widely reported and alleged that Gallagher did – but that Scott then decided to go over and suffocated him, according to a reporter covering the trial.
“IN DRAMATIC TESTIMONY just now inside courtroom Navy Seal Corey Scott Testified that he saw Gallagher stab the Isis fighter, but then Scott himself, NOT GALLAGHER, decided to put his hand over the tracheal tube and suffocate him, claiming he killed him, not Gallagher,” tweeted Bonnie McLean with ABC News.
IN DRAMATIC TESTIMONY just now inside courtroom Navy Seal Corey Scott Testified that he saw Gallagher stab the Isis fighter, but then Scott himself, NOT GALLAGHER, decided to put his hand over the tracheal tube and suffocate him, claiming he killed him, not Gallagher.
— Bonnie McLean (@bonniestarrmcle) June 20, 2019
Gallagher, a 15-year Navy SEAL, is charged with premeditated murder, accused of stabbing and killing a critically wounded ISIS fighter during a 2017 deployment to Mosul. He is also accused of shooting at unarmed civilians. He has pleaded not guilty, and his court-martial trial began on Monday.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Scott “said he covered the breathing tube that had been inserted to help the [ISIS] fighter breathe and watched the man die. He said he did it to spare the fighter from being tortured later by Iraqis.”
Scott says he is not lying, and that he did not previously tell the Navy prosecutors about this because he was never asked, the Union-Tribune reported.
“I don’t want him to go to jail,” Scott said, referring to Gallagher, the Union-Tribune reported, noting that Scott had previously obtained immunity from the prosecution to testify.
Scott’s testimony has been highly anticipated as he was the one who was monitoring the ISIS fighter before his death.
Scott previously told Navy investigators that the fighter was almost dead by the time he was taken into SEAL custody for treatment, and the treatment rendered to the fighter wasn’t medically necessary, according to a letter provided to Navy Times.
