Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn /
The Fayetteville Observer via AP file James Robinson
President Donald Trump used Twitter on Saturday morning to come to the defense of an army officer charged with murder and said the man’s case was now under review at the White House.
Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, a decorated Green Beret, is charged with committing premeditated murder of an Afghan man he suspected of being a Taliban bomb maker on Feb. 22, 2010, while deployed near Forward Operating base McQuery in Marjah, Afghanistan.
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Golsteyn disclosed the shooting during a CIA polygraph test. He was applying for a job at the spy agency and admitted to killing the man, who he claimed was a suspected Taliban bomb maker, military officials said when the officer was charged.
“Mathew is a highly decorated Green Beret who is being tried for killing a Taliban bombmaker,” Trump tweeted. “We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!”
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“There is no question that the charge of premeditated murder grossly misrepresents my conduct in Afghanistan and exposes me to the death penalty for serving this nation in accordance with the requirements of my mission,” Golsteyn wrote. “The military justice system has been compromised in my case.”
Navy Vet
Article URL : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-announces-review-green-beret-murder-case-we-train-our-n1065421