Four former Blackwater Worldwide guards were convicted by a federal jury in Washington, DC on Wednesday in the shootings of more than 30 unarmed civilians in Iraq in 2007.
The Blackwater guards were in a convoy in Nisour Square on September 16, 2007 on a mission to clear the path for another Blackwater team that was evacuating a U.S. official from a nearby car bombing, the Washington Post reported.
The guards were accused of firing recklessly with machine guns and grenades at people in the square.
According to Al Jazeera, they claimed that they were acting in self-defense as they had been targeted by incoming AK-47 gunfire.
One of the guards, Nicholas Slatten, also claimed that he believed the driver of an approaching vehicle was a car bomber.
As a result, the guards said they opened fire at the car and other unarmed civilians, killing a total of 14 people and wounding a further 17.
The former Blackwater guards’ claims were rejected by the jury, and Slatten faces a mandatory life sentence for murder.
The other three men, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, face mandatory minimums sentence of 30 years in prison.
Defense attorneys said they would appeal, Reuters said.
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