U.S. Mercenary Killers Sent to Prison

Four Americans convicted of killing 17 innocent civilians while employed as private security contractors by the United States Government have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Nicholas A. Slatten, who fired the first shots during the 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad, was sentenced to life imprisonment; Paul A. Slough, Evan S. Liberty, and Dustin L. Heard were each sentenced to 30 year terms. Blackwater, the private security firm these men worked for, has changed its name several times, and heavily armed private mercenaries are still employed by the U.S. Government.

More:

“Why four Blackwater contractors were just now convicted of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007,” Dara Lind, Vox

“A Blackwater World Order,” Kelley Vlahos, American Conservative

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Blackwater Contract Killers Finally Convicted. After a Fashion.

Four former Blackwater Worldwide “security contractors” were finally convicted for killing 14 innocent civilians and wounding 17 more in 2007 when they indiscriminately opened fire at a busy intersection at Baghdad’s Nisour Square. One of the victims was nine years old. Only one of the private army “contractors,” sniper Nicholas A. Slatten, was convicted of murder; the other three — Dustin L. Heard, Evan S. Liberty and Paul A. Slough — were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and the use of machine guns in a violent crime. The sentences for the machine gun convictions may actually be longer than those for taking innocent human lives.