Jonathan Keefe is Navy Seal Charged in Punching a Terrorist Incident

Jonathan Keefe is one of three Navy SEALS charged in the "punching a Fallujah, Iraq terrorist" incidence. Update 12-07-09 below.

Navy Seals

Keefe is 25 years old. He enlisted in 2006 and began his SEAL training the same year. He is originally from Yorktown, Virginia. Keefe is charged with offenses occurring around September 1st, of one count each of dereliction of duty and false official statement.

Update 12-07-09:

Ways you Can Help:

Lodge your protest at 813-828-4976
Email your protest to holly.silkman@soccent.centcom.mil

Mail your protest to US Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps
The office of the Judge Advocate General, Public Affairs
1322 Patterson Ave., Suite 3000
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5066

Other phone numbers:

Comm: 202-685-5493
Washington Navy Yard: 202-685-5190
Pentagon, Room 4C642: 703-614-7420

AJAG, Military Law: 1254 Charles Morris St., SE
Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374-5047
Comm: 202-685-7053

This from a reader for donations to a defense fund:

"U.S.NavySEAL/Warrior Legal Defense Fund" acct. # 435020290711 c/o Bank of America, P.O. Box F, Fort Eustis, VA. 23604
Can contribute through any Bank of America. 

Also, paypal: http://sites.Google. com/site/usnavyseallegaldefencefund/

Not 501(c)(3), so not tax deductible

Ahmed Hashim Abed, known to the military as Obejctive Amber, is believed to have orchestrated the brutal attack on four Blackwater contractors delivering catering supplies to our military in Fallujah, Iraq. He was one of the most wanted insurgents in in Iraq before three Navy Seals, deployed in an elite commando unit, captured him.

Blackwater Hangings

The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."

The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.

The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph [see above in an AP photo].

One of the Blackwater contractors murder was a former Navy SEAL.

According CNN, the three SEALS refused a "nonjudicial resolution," to the charges, saying they wanted their names cleared and they did not harm the detainee in anyway. Their charges are said to equvalent to a "misdemeanor,: yet:

If found guilty, they could be sentenced to a maximum of a year in a military prison, demotion to the lowest Navy rank, a cut in pay and a bad conduct discharge.

But if found innocent of all charges, they would be able to continue their careers with no record of the case in their personnel files.

The three SEALs are with their unit in Norfolk, Virginia. They will make an initial appearance before a military judge on December 7. The court-martial is scheduled to begin in January.

The attorney said he expects the SEALs will not waive their constitutional right to confront the accuser in court, which could cause a logistical challenge. Abed is believed to be in a U.S. military detention center overseas, and it is unclear if the military would want him brought to the United States for the court-martial.

Certainly, there is no similarity to the the punishment brought by a civilian misdemeanor.

The men charged are assigned to SEAL Team 10, based in Little Creek, Virginia. Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2 and Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1 faces the same charges as McCabe, of "dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement."

Related:
Julio Huertas is Navy SEAL charged in punching a terrorist incident

Matthew McCabe is Navy SEAL charged for punching terrorist