Ex-Blackwater guard says didn't feel threatened
Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — The defense team in the Blackwater trial attacked the testimony of a key prosecution witness Thursday, telling a jury that the witness lied to federal investigators even after he had sworn to tell the truth in an effort to win leniency in the case surrounding the killings of 14 Iraqis.
The witness, former Blackwater guard Jeremy Ridgeway, undercut the defense of four of his former colleagues. The four say they acted in self-defense, firing their weapons because they believed they were under attack by insurgents.
Ridgeway, who pleaded guilty to two felonies, testified that he didn't feel that he and his colleagues were being fired upon when they started shooting in downtown Baghdad on Sept. 16, 2007.
Ridgeway told a jury that he didn't see any Iraqis pointing guns in Nisoor Square where the shootings took place, that there were no telltale muzzle flashes in the distance, that there was no incoming fire and that there was no sound of AK-47 rounds going off, as would be the case if insurgents were shooting at the Blackwater guards from nearby.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ex-blackwater-guard-says-he-didnt-feel-threatened
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