It has been a privilege to get to know the Sharratt family. They have been treated so unfairly, by people who should know better. Who could blame them for wanting to hold John Murtha accountable? Not me.
Exonerated Marine to sue Rep. Murtha
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.
Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.
Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt “incredible.”
Noah Geary, a Washington County lawyer representing Mr. Sharratt, said his client will file suit today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh accusing Mr. Murtha of violating his constitutional rights as well as slander for statements about the Haditha incident. A 1:30 p.m. news conference has been planned to announce the suit.
“He just held innumerable press conferences, just repeatedly kept saying this was cold-blooded murder,” Mr. Geary said of the congressman.
Pundit Review Radio was the first show to interview exonerated Haditha Marine Justin Sharratt,
We also spoke to Justin’s father Darryl on several occassions, inlcuding after he spoke to Congressman Murtha. You see, Congressman Murtha, who convicted these Marines in the press, is the Sharratt’s congressmen. Can you imagine. Even worse, it took the Sharratt family more than fifty phone calls before Murtha gave them the time of day.
In a second interview, we talked to Darryl about the stress this incident has put on his family,
All of our Haditha coverage can be found here.