A Navy SEAL charged in the death of an Iraqi war prisoner was reunited with his family after he was moved from the brig to the barracks at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Saturday.
Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was able to see his wife and son during this time, according to a Facebook post by "Free Eddie Gallagher – Navy SEAL Chief."
The post thanked President Donald Trump, who announced the move 15 hours earlier in a tweet.
Gallagher is accused of killing a teenage Islamic State fighter under his care and then holding his reenlistment ceremony with the corpse. Navy prosecutors also accuse Gallagher of shooting two civilians in Iraq and opening fire on crowds. Gallagher has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
In Trump’s tweet, the president said the move was in honor of Gallagher’s past service to the country.
The tweet came after 18 Republican members of the U.S. House sent a letter to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer raising concerns about the conditions of Gallagher’s confinement at the Navy brig in California.
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In their March 18 letter to Spencer, the House members said Gallagher’s family and friends reported that he had not had sufficient access to his defense attorneys. They also said they got reports he was not receiving enough food or adequate medical care.
Housing prisoners such as Gallagher who are awaiting trial with those who have completed their trials may be to blame for some of those problems, they said, and they called on Spencer to review that practice.
Following the transfer, the Facebook post claimed he "was finally moved into conditions that will allow him to receive the medical care he needs and deserves, and also the opportunity to adequately and fully prepare for his trial with his legal team."
NBC 7 reached out to Gallagher's attorney, Phil Stackhouse, who said his team is also "very thankful" to the president for Gallagher’s release from pretrial confinement.
Stackhouse also thanked U.S. Reps. Duncan Hunter, Ralph Norman, and Dan Crenshaw in an email to NBC 7.
“Now that the President has directed Chief Gallagher's release, we look forward to the Navy expeditiously releasing him to his command,” Stackhouse wrote.
A military judge last month postponed Gallagher’s trial by three months after defense lawyers asked for more time to go over the prosecution’s evidence.
The trial was reset for May 28.
