WATCH: Soldiers of Clint Lorance’s Platoon React in Disgust to Hannity’s Interview with Convicted Killer Pardoned by Trump

The Washington Post just published an investigation into the platoon that served — for just three days  — under 1Lt. Clint Lorance in Afghanistan. In those three days, Lorance allegedly committed three war crimes, and the platoon swiftly turned him in. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to a nineteen-year prison sentence. But he only served six years, thanks to a lobbying effort by Fox News hosts who convinced President Donald Trump to pardon Lorance. He was freed last year.

The Post spoke to members of Lorance’s former platoon in the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, who expressed disgust that conservative media lionized Lorance and a feeling of betrayal in response to Trump’s mindless pardoning of him. The paper provided a detailed account of the war crimes and their aftermath, “based on a transcript of Lorance’s 2013 court-martial at Fort Bragg, N.C., and on-the-record interviews with 15 members of 1st Platoon.”

In 2012, after several soldiers in the platoon were wounded in Afghanistan, Lorance, who had never seen combat, was named their new platoon leader. Soldiers testified that in the brief period he led the platoon, he ordered them to shoot at children and kill civilians.

On Lorance’s third day in charge, the platoon spotted three Afghan men who did not appear armed, 150 to 200 yards away on a motorcycle. Lorance ordered his soldiers to shoot the men. The first shots missed. The men stopped the motorcycle and waved at the soldiers, seemingly presenting no threat. “Smoke ’em,” Lorance ordered. After confusion and reticence from his unit, one of the platoon’s lowest-ranking soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men. The third man ran away. The bodies were found to be unarmed. Soldiers in the platoon were furious. According to court testimony, Lorance was ecstatic, exclaiming: “That was fucking awesome.”

Then, according to the Post:

Lorance’s soldiers turned him in that evening, and at the July 2013 trial, 14 of his men testified under oath against him. Four of those soldiers received immunity in exchange for their testimony. Lorance did not appear on the stand, and not one of his former 1st Platoon soldiers spoke in his defense. The trial lasted three days. It took the jury of Army officers three hours to find him guilty of second-degree murder, making false statements and ordering his men to fire at Afghan civilians. The jury handed down a 20-year sentence.

Sean Hannity took up Clint Lorance’s cause, casting the convicted murderer — responsible for the death of two unarmed civilians — as a hero. He aggressively lobbied Trump to pardon Lorance, calling his conviction “a national disgrace.” Fox News host Pete Hegseth, himself a combat veteran who lobbies for accused war criminals on and off the air, took up Lorance’s cause as well.

Despite the testimony of the platoon, Lorance was celebrated by many as a hero upon his release. He appeared at a Republican fundraiser alongside Trump, as well as for fawning interviews on Fox & Friends and Hannity.

The Post, in a video interview with members of the platoon, had them react to Lorance’s appearance on Hannity.

Hannity asked Lorance: “You came to take over a platoon where a bunch of Taliban on motorcycles had killed members of that platoon, and took out the leader, severely injuring him.”

“Ok. Taliban on motorcycles never attacked our platoon,” reacted Lucas Gray, a specialist from the platoon who witnessed the murder of the two Afghan men.

Hannity asked Lorance of the two men: “These guys passed the checkpoint and didn’t stop, right?”

“Correct,” Lorance replied.

“There was no checkpoint,” Gray said.

Hannity asked: “How many seconds did you have to decide whether or not they were like the ones that injured the last platoon leader and killed others?”

“It was just a few seconds,” Lorance replied.

“A few seconds,” former Pfc. Zach Thomas said with disgust. “This guy came in with the idea that we were going to kill people on motorcycles. That’s what he wanted. And there was no few seconds about it.”

Thomas, a soldier from Texas who was standing near Lorance when he gave the order to fire on the two men, described himself to the Post as a “right-wing conservative.”

“[Lorance] loves to say he was protecting his men that day,” Thomas added. “But if anything, he just put his men in more danger because he ordered the killing of civilians.”

In response to Lorance saying he is responsible for the reputation of the United States, Gray had a blunt response: “That’s our reputation. Killing Afghans and getting on Fox News and lying about it.”

“It’s not vetted, it’s not confirmed. It’s just this asshole going on television and saying something that they take as gospel. Because he’s an American soldier,” Gray said. “The people that think American soldiers are beyond reproach actually diminishes our service.”

“I agree with Trump on lots of things, obviously I can’t agree with him on this decision,” Thomas told the Post. “He was duped by the fake media, just like he talks about.”

According to former squad leader Mike McGuinness: “The biggest problem I have with Lorance’s whole movement — or whatever the hell you want to call it — is, you know, We’re pro-troops. No, you’re pro-troop. One. Singular. Because there were thirty of us that spoke out against his wrongdoing, and you essentially told us to go fuck ourselves.”

The Washington Post story paints an enraging picture of what the mendacious campaign to have a convicted murderer pardoned has done to a platoon he led for just 72 hours. It’s a devastating indictment of partisan cable news.

Watch the Post short documentary above, and read the investigation here.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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