Blackwater guards indicted for murder By Eric W. Dolan
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 -- 10:48 am
A federal grand jury has added an additional indictment to a former Blackwater employee involved in the murders of two Afghan civilians in May of 2009, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Two Blackwater guards have been charged with second-degree murder for the fatal shootings.
The Virginian-Pilot reports,
(Christopher) Drotleff, of Virginia Beach, and (Justin) Cannon, of Corpus Christi, Texas, were working for a subsidiary of Blackwater, also known as Xe, to train the Afghan police force in Kabul. The indictment alleges they were drinking that day when they became involved in a traffic accident and began firing their weapons at another car.
Drotleff and Cannon say they fired in self-defense, in fear for their lives, at a car that was speeding toward them. The government counters that the victims were all shot from behind.