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Blackwater Guards Surrender in Utah

Update: DOJ announcement here. A sixth defendant, Jeremy Ridgeway pleaded guilty to these charges (pdf) brought by Information rather than Indictment. The factual basis for his plea is here (pdf).

Five Blackwater guards charged in federal court in Washington with manslaughter and use of a machine gun a crime of violence -- the killing of Iraqis -- surrendered today in Utah.

Seventeen Iraqis were killed in the September 2007 shooting. Witnesses said the heavily armed U.S. contractors opened fire unprovoked, killing innocent motorists and children at a crowded intersection. Blackwater, the largest security contractor in Iraq, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.

Why Utah? For one thing, Paul Cassell, who lives in Utah is on the defense team. [More...]

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