Sparta Man One of 15 Pardoned By President Trump

A Sparta man was included in 15 pardons that President Donald Trump handed out Tuesday night.

Nick Slatten, a government security contractor, was one of four Blackwater security guards excused. The group was imprisoned for killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 others during the Iraqi War in 2007.

Slatten joined Blackwater after his service in the Iraqui War and was contracted by the U.S. government to provide security. The incident began after a car bomb exploded near a US diplomat.

Shots were fired after a car, suspected to be another bomb, approached the group. The result was a mass killing of civilians known as the Nisour Square massacre. Authorities said most were unarmed and shot as they ran for cover. The youngest was 9 years old.

The event was viewed as an ambush on civilians, but the contractors claimed self defense. Slatten was convicted for murder in 2018 and sentenced to life in prison. Slatten’s attorney requested for the pardon last year.

Dustin Heard of Maryville was also pardoned.