Michael Behenna

Michael Behenna was born on May 18, 1983, to Scott Behenna, an FBI intelligence analyst and retired Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation special agent, and Vicki Behenna, a federal prosecutor who had worked on the Oklahoma City bombing case. He attended Will Rogers Elementary School where he met his future girlfriend, Shannon Wall. Behenna graduated from Edmond North High School in 2002 and, after witnessing the September 11th attacks, expressed interest in enlisting in the U.S. Army, wanting to "fight terrorists" and "work his way up from the bottom". ==Military career==

Behenna was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army upon graduation from college. He attended Infantry Officer Training and was then selected to attend the U.S. Army's Ranger School. Behenna was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as the platoon leader for 5th Platoon, Delta Company of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment and deployed to Iraq in 2007. During his tour of duty in Iraq, Behenna's platoon conducted counterinsurgency operations in the Salahuddin province with a focus on the towns of Mezra, Hajaj and Butoma. Behenna made efforts to develop ties with local Iraqis as part of his counter-insurgency mission and, already fluent in Spanish, began to teach himself Arabic. He was known to host cookouts with his platoon for local interpreters, engage with civilians on the street and encouraged his soldiers to learn about Iraqi culture and to eat their food. This desire to interact with locals caused some friction within his platoon, with one soldier commenting: He would talk to random civilians, anyone. He was the type of guy that liked Iraqis. That was the only annoying thing about him. He was always about saving the country. According to Behenna, his actions were in self-defense and he describes the situation as such in an interview. After the killing, Behenna ordered the platoon back to the base and the next day local villagers found Mansur's naked, burned body in the culvert. On July 31, 2008, Behenna was relieved of his command and charged with the premeditated murder of Ali Mansur Mohamed. In November 2008, Behenna was returned to Fort Campbell and assigned to security duties pending a court-martial. ==Court-martial==

After Behenna's Article 32 hearing, his family hired defense attorney Jack Zimmerman, a former United States Marine, military trial judge and Vietnam veteran. The prosecution, led by Captain Erwin Roberts, made its opening statements on February 23, 2009. The prosecution's two principal witnesses were Iraqi interpreter "Harry" and Staff Sergeant Warner. Warner struck a plea bargain with the prosecution where he agreed to plead guilty to assault, maltreatment of a subordinate and making a false statement in exchange for not being charged with premeditated murder and for his future testimony against Behenna. The defense contended that Behenna was under an acute stress disorder as a result of the attacks on his platoon and that during the shooting he had acted in self-defense after Mansur lunged at him. After less than three and a half hours of deliberation, the jury came back finding Behenna not guilty of making a false declaration and premeditated murder, but guilty of UCMJ Article 118, unpremeditated murder and sentenced to 25 years' confinement. After learning that the prosecution had not passed on his information, MacDonnell also signed several motions for mistrial. After reviewing the defense's initial motion, a military judge declined to declare a mistrial, but a military panel reviewed the case and decided to reduce Behenna's sentence to 20 years. After the Behenna family appealed to the Army's Clemency and Parole Board, Michael Behenna's sentence was again reduced, this time to 15 years. His second clemency request was denied in December 2010. On February 12, 2014, another request for clemency was denied, but Behenna was granted parole and released on March 14, 2014, after serving less than five years of his sentence. On May 6, 2019, Behenna was granted a full pardon by U.S. President Donald Trump. ==See also==