Jesse MacBeth |
A man who claimed in an anti-war video to have "slaughtered" hundreds of civilians while serving with the Army Rangers in Iraq faces federal charges of falsifying his record.
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Jesse MacBeth, 23, alleged in a 20-minute production by a 1970s antiwar activist he personally killed 200 civilians, many of them at close range, while on patrols with the Army Rangers during 16 months in Iraq before being discharged due to wounds.
But MacBeth's discharge form contradicted his claims, showing he never went to Iraq and was kicked out of the Army after six weeks at Fort Benning, Ga., because of his "entry level performance and conduct."
The complaint in U.S. District Court in Seattle charges him with one count of using or possessing a forged or altered military discharge certificate, and one count of making false statements in seeking benefits from the Veterans Administration, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
"He approached us in early 2006, posing as a war veteran. He seemed very emotionally distressed about his experiences," said Amadee Braxton, a spokeswoman for Philadelphia-based Iraq Veterans Against the War. "We later found out he had fabricated a lot of his military record and that he was somebody who had mental problems. We hoped that he would get those issues dealt with."
Wearing a green camouflage overshirt in the tape, MacBeth said he was telling his story to atone for killing innocent civilians. Titled "Jesse Macbeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out," the tape first aired in April on Seattle public access television on the show "Indymedia Presents" and later was posted online.
"Do whatever it takes to make them fear you," he claimed commanders told him and his fellow soldiers in the 3rd Ranger Battalion. "You won't be charged."
According to MacBeth's claims, Rangers would lie in wait in mosques to slaughter hundreds who came to pray, and children were regularly executed in front of their parents in order to extract information.
"We would go into people's houses and plow down entire families," he said. "We would interrogate people. If we didn't like the answers that they gave, then we would kill the youngest child. If they gave more answers that we didn't like, then we'd move on to the rest of the family. They could've been innocent people.
"They would actually feel the hot muzzle of my rifle on their forehead," MacBeth said.
Army spokesman Paul Boyce noted several red flags in the videotape, including "numerous wear and appearance issues with the soldier's uniform – a mix of foreign uniforms with the sleeves rolled up like a Marine and a badly floppy tan beret worn like a pastry chef."
When the military said it had no record of MacBeth's service as a Ranger, he complained, "They did the same thing to John Kerry."
MacBeth spoke last year at an anti-war rally in Tacoma, Wash., sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War and other organizations, but IVAW later repudiated him.
The charging papers say MacBeth collected more than $10,400 in benefits to which he was not entitled, the Seattle paper reported. He claimed he was shot in Iraq and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder.
LaMont E. Stokes, an agent with the VA's Office of the Inspector, interviewed Macbeth in the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, where he has been serving a sentence for fourth-degree assault, the Post-Intelligencer said.
Macbeth admitted to Stokes he falsified the documents because he was homeless and wanted to "sucker" anything he could out of the government.
The paper said Macbeth also is wanted in Arizona for illegal credit card use.
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