Yes! President Trump is sticking up for a hero who killed a terrorist bombmaker! Under Obama, the rules of engagement for our soldiers fighting in Afganistan didn’t allow them to do what the Green Beret did and he’s being charged with MURDER for it. Two Marines he was fighting with were killed when they opened a door booby-trapped with explosives, so he killed the Taliban member suspected of planting the bomb to stop him from killing anyone else! Under Obama he wasn’t allowed to do that, but Trump just called the Green Beret a “hero” and is coming to his defense!
The Daily Wire is reporting:
“President Trump on Sunday vowed to review the case of a former Army Green Beret who has been charged with the killing a man in Afghanistan whom he suspected was a Taliban bombmaker.
Army Maj. Matthew Golsteyn was charged with murder on Thursday, long after he acknowledged the killing in a 2016 Fox News interview.
“Major Matthew Golsteyn’s immediate commander has determined that sufficient evidence exists to warrant the preferral of charges against him,” said Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, a spokesman for U.S. Army Special Operations Command. “Major Golsteyn has been charged with the murder of an Afghan male during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan,” he said.
Philip Stackhouse, Golsteyn’s lawyer, wrote on Twitter the former soldier has been charged with “premeditated murder, a death penalty offense for allegedly killing a Taliban bomb-maker during combat operations in Marjah, Afghanistan.”
This morning we learned that the Army charged MAJ Matt Golsteyn w/ premeditated murder, a death penalty offense for allegedly killing a Taliban bomb-maker during combat operations in Marjah, Afghanistan. @MilitaryTimes @ArmyTimes @NavyTimes @washingtonpost @TaskandPurpose
— MilitaryDefender (@MilitaryDefendr) December 13, 2018
Trump said that many have requested he look into the case, which he pledged to do.
“At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a “U.S. Military hero,” Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas,” he wrote on Twitter.
At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a “U.S. Military hero,” Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas. @PeteHegseth @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
“The murder charge was brought in the unusual case seven years after Golsteyn disclosed the killing during a CIA polygraph test,” NBC News reported. “Golsteyn was applying for a job with the spy agency when he admitted to fatally shooting the man who he said was a suspected Taliban bomb maker, military officials said.”
In April 2014, Golsteyn received an official reprimand for his actions, but no formal charges were filed at the time due to a lack of physical evidence, military officials said. Army Secretary John McHugh revoked Golsteyn’s Silver Star, the third highest award for valor in the military, and took away his Special Forces tab, a patch awarded to soldiers after completing one of the elite Special Forces schools.
Two years later, Golsteyn appeared on a FOX News Special Report entitled, “How We Fight,” where he admitted to killing the suspected bomb maker.
Golsteyn told anchor Brett Baier he was concerned that if he released the suspected Taliban member, the man would target Afghans who were providing information to U.S. soldiers.
Baier asked Golsteyn if he’d killed the man. “Yes,” Golsteyn replied.
Here is a video report that Fox News did on Golsteyn in 2016.
The Army Times has this on Maj. Golsteyn:
“Golsteyn, a captain at the time, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 with 3rd Special Forces Group. During the intense Battle of Marja, explosives planted on a booby-trapped door killed two Marines and wounded three others who were working with the major’s unit.
During those heated days, Golsteyn earned a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, when he helped track down a sniper targeting his troops, assisted a wounded Afghan soldier and helped coordinate multiple airstrikes.
He would be awarded that medal at a 2011 ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The award was later approved for an upgrade to the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor.
But both the medal and his coveted Special Forces tab would be stripped from him due to an investigation that eventually closed in 2014 without any charges.
An Army board of inquiry recommended a general discharge for Golsteyn and found no clear evidence the soldier violated the rules of engagement while deployed in 2010. This would have allowed Golsteyn to retain most of his retirement benefits under a recommended general discharge under honorable conditions.
Though he was cleared of a law of armed conflict violation, the board found Golsteyn’s conduct as unbecoming an officer.
Golsteyn was out of Special Forces and in a legal limbo as he awaited a discharge.
That could have been the end of it, but in mid-2015, Army documents surfaced, showing that Golsteyn allegedly told CIA interviewers during a polygraph test that he had killed an alleged Afghan bomb-maker and later conspired with others to destroy the body.
Those documents were part of a 2011 report filed by an Army investigator, Special Agent Zachary Jackson, who reported that Golsteyn said after the Marines were killed in the February blast that his unit found bomb-making materials nearby, detained the suspected bomb-maker and brought him back to their base.
A local tribal leader identified the man as a known Taliban bomb-maker. The accused learned of the leader’s identification, which caused the tribal leader to fear he would kill him and his family if released.
Trusting the leader and having also seen other detainees released, Golsteyn allegedly told CIA interviewers that he and another soldier took the alleged bomb-maker off base, shot him and buried his remains.
He also allegedly told the interviewers that on the night of the killing, he and two other soldiers dug up the body and burned it in a trash pit on base.
Then, in late 2016, during an interview with Fox News, Golsteyn admitted to a version of the incidents involving the killing of the alleged Afghan bomb-maker.
The Army opened a second investigation near the end of 2016.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, himself a Marine veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, stepped in on Golsteyn’s behalf, writing a letter to the Army secretary and making scathing public comments about the case, calling the Army’s investigation “retaliatory and vindictive.”
The congressman called on Army leadership to “fix this stupidity,” describing Golsteyn as “a distinguished and well regarded Green Beret.”
Here is the original Fox report Golsteyn appeared on in 2016.
Share this if you’re proud of President Trump for sticking up for our heroes!