US Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher acquitted of murder but has rank reduced for posing with body of dead Isis fighter

40-year-old special operations commander accused of war crimes

US Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher has been sentenced to reduced rank for posing with the body of a dead Isis fighter – a day after he was acquitted of murdering the extremist during a war crimes trial.

A jury in San Diego, California, set Gallagher free after prosecutors decided not to seek jail time as the amount he had already spent in detention was more the maximum penalty available for posing with a human casualty – four months.

Rather, the jury ordered that his rank be reduced by one grade to petty officer 1st class, and said his monthly pay should be cut by $2,697 for four months.

During the court martial, the jury heard from other special forces members how Gallagher had stabbed a 17-year-old Isis prisoner in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017.

They said Gallagher had also taken photographs with the teenager’s body, and fellow SEALs said their commander had shot at noncombatants, including elderly men and young teenage girls.

This had been enough to charge him with murder, and attempted murder of civilians, and proceed with a war crimes trial against him. The 1907 Hague Convention says soldiers doing conflict must take all possible measures to prevent the dead from being despoiled or or pillaged.

Gallagher appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, and spoke about being acquitted of killing the teenager, on whose body no formal autopsy was performed.

“Loyalty is a trait that seems to be lost. You’re there to watch your brother’s back, and he’s there to watch your back,” he said.

The story took something of a twist when Donald Trump on Wednesday tweeted congratulations to Gallagher and appeared to suggest he had somehow sought to intervene in the case.

“Congratulations to navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, his wonderful wife Andrea, and his entire family,” he wrote. “You have been through much together. Glad I could help.”

The White House did not immediately explain what the president meant by his tweet.

The special forces operator had been tried by a seven-member jury of marines and navy personnel, Reuters said.

It said the outcome of the court-martial, capped by a three-week trial on various war crimes charges, marked a significant legal victory for Gallagher, who would have faced a possible life sentence had he been found guilty of murder.