The four had been tried and convicted in what a US court determined were unjustified and unprovoked shootings with machine guns and grenade launchers that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Blackwater was founded by former Navy SEAL member Erik Prince, who later became a close ally of Trump. The military company won billions of dollars in contracts, and multiple accusations of abuses did nothing to stop its expansion. The four Blackwater guards — Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — were convicted in 2014. The protracted investigation saw 30 Iraqi witnesses who lost their loved ones in the shootings travel to the US to testify at the trial.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 24, 2020 11:37 UTC