WASHINGTON — The White House says President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to a former first lieutenant in the U.S. Army convicted in 2009 of killing an Iraqi prisoner.
Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says Trump granted clemency to Michael Behenna of Oklahoma.
Behenna was convicted in 2009 of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone after killing a suspected al-Qaida terrorist in Iraq. He was paroled in 2014 and had been scheduled to remain on parole until 2024.
Sanders says Behenna’s case attracted broad support from the military, Oklahoma elected officials and the public.
She also says Behenna was a model prisoner, and “in light of these facts, Mr. Behenna is entirely deserving” of the pardon.
