SAN DIEGO _ Navy SEAL Chief Edward Gallagher addressed the jury deciding his punishment Wednesday and noted he has made some mistakes over his military career.
He acknowledged the charge the jury found him guilty of, which was related to him posing with the dead body of an ISIS fighter.
"I take full responsibility for my actions that day, appearing in those photos," he said. "This has put a black eye on two communities I love, the SEALs and the Marine Corps."
The SEALs were under the command of the Marine Special Operations when they deployed to Mosul, Iraq, in 2017 to assist the Iraqi army as it battled against the Islamic State, often called ISIS.
Gallagher was accused by prosecutors and SEALs in his platoon of stabbing to death a wounded ISIS fighter taken to them for medical care then posing with the body and later texting the photos.
He also was accused of shooting at two unarmed Iraqi civilians and of shooting at crowds and later prosecutors said he tried to intimidate potential witnesses.
The jury on Tuesday acquitted Gallagher on all but one of those charges in a widely watched court-martial that revealed fissures in the usually closeknit Navy SEALs organization and possible stumbles made by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
On Wednesday, before the jury determined his punishment, Gallagher made an unsworn statement that did not directly mention all the allegations, nor the fellow SEALs who made them.
"I've made mistakes in my 20-year career _ tactical, ethical, moral _ but I've bounced back," he said. "I'm ready to bounce back from this."
Gallagher thanked the jury for their time and service. He said of the trial and the separation from his family, who live in Florida, "It's put my family through two years of hell."
Then the jury, which consisted of five Marines and two sailors, decided to bust Gallagher down one rank, from an E-7 to an E-6.
As an E-6, he maintains his pension. This month will mark Gallagher's 20th year in the military, making him eligible to retire. He is 40.
For each of the next two months, Gallagher also must forfeit $2,697 of his pay, the jury decided.
The jury also imposed a four-month jail sentence, but Gallagher will remain free because he had spent 10 months in custody before the trial.
His defense team said the criminal charges were the result of a conspiracy among younger SEALs in his platoon who thought Gallagher was too aggressive. The attorneys also criticized NCIS and prosecutors for targeting their client.
Gallagher's trial was marked by several explosive developments, including a revelation that prosecutors and NCIS had tried to track defense attorneys' emails and the surprise testimony last month of a prosecution witness who said he, not Gallagher, killed the ISIS fighter.
Gallagher's attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said after Wednesday's hearing that his team will ask the convening authority, Rear Admiral Bette Bolivar, to have Gallagher's rank reduction suspended so that Gallagher could retire as a chief.
Wednesday morning, a few hours before the sentencing hearing, Gallagher told a national TV audience on "Fox and Friends" that he was "completely grateful and blessed" for the support of the nation.
"They tried to frame me as a criminal from the get-go, but we knew the truth the whole time," Gallagher said. "We knew I was innocent of these charges the whole time, and we overcame it by having my strong wife by my side and my legal team."
Gallagher thanked Fox News and President Donald Trump for their help and support through the criminal case. He also singled out Rep. Duncan Hunter, the Republican now fighting corruption charges in an unrelated case.
"You guys backed us from the beginning," Gallagher said.
The Navy SEAL chief said a "small group" of SEALs decided to concoct a story about what happened in 2017.
"This has put a black eye on this (Navy SEAL) community, but I want our nation to know this is not what our community is about," he said.
Asked by the interviewer what he would say to incoming SEALs, Gallagher said, "Loyalty is a trait that seems to be lost, and I would say bring that back. We're a brotherhood."
Wednesday morning by President Donald Trump, who earlier inserted himself into the criminal case by posting comments on Twitter, tweeted his approval of the verdict.
"Congratulations to Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher, his wonderful wife Andrea, and his entire family," Trump posted on Twitter at 7:47 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. "You have been through much together. Glad I could help!"
Earlier this year, Trump suggested Gallagher was being wrongly prosecuted and implied he may pardon the SEAL chief. Shortly after that tweet, Gallagher was released from the brig he had been held in and was freed for the duration of the case.
That tweet was criticized by some as an inappropriate intervention in a criminal case that had yet to be resolved.
