Clint Lorance

The 28-year-old was chosen as his replacement, and became the platoon leader of 1st Platoon, C Troop.

In his short time as Platoon Leader, Lorance engaged in tactics that drew scrutiny at his later court-martial.

Clint Allen Lorance (born December 13, 1984) is a former United States Army officer who is known for having been convicted and pardoned for war crimes.

On his 18th birthday in 2002, Lorance enlisted in the U.S. Army.

He was stationed first in South Korea for two years as a traffic officer, and then in Iraq, where he served for 15 months guarding detainees.

After a deployment in Iraq, he attended the University of North Texas, and graduated in 2010, becoming the first college graduate in his family.

Lorance then lived in Celeste, Texas, and Merit, Texas, in Hunt County.

After graduating from college with his bachelor's degree, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2010, and subsequently promoted to first lieutenant.

While serving as a first lieutenant in the infantry in the War in Afghanistan with the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division in 2012, Lorance was charged with two counts of unpremeditated murder after he ordered his soldiers to open fire on three Afghan men who were on a motorcycle.

In March 2012 he was deployed to a small outpost in southern Afghanistan with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Another lieutenant in the 4th Brigade Combat Team was wounded in a roadside bombing by shrapnel; one of four injuries the platoon suffered in a matter of days.

On June 30, 2012, Lorance threatened a farmer and a small boy by pointing a rifle at the boy.

On July 1, 2012, Lorance ordered two of his soldiers to fire at the villagers and instructed one of his NCOs to provide a false report to the Troop TOC (Tactical Operations Center).

Early the next day, on July 2, 2012, Lorance and his patrol went on his second combat patrol, with most of his two dozen soldiers on foot.

The patrol entered the same location in which they had been fired upon, in a dangerous valley in a Taliban-controlled area of Zhari District in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan.

In a post-conviction legal filing, a U.S. government contractor, Kevin Huber, claimed to have observed the area through cameras on a stationary blimp.

He wrote: "I saw three fighting-aged males shadowing the American patrol at a distance of about 300 m. In my experience, they had every indication of Taliban or insurgent fighters because they were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and using ICOM radios while moving along the back wall of the village toward the American position."

According to the Army Times article reporting Huber's claim, "Court records do not indicate that those motorcyclists—if they were indeed the same ones who Lorance later ordered soldiers to shoot—were armed at the time of the shooting."

Daniel Gustafson, who served as the Battalion command sergeant major over Lorance's platoon, testified that he was 100 percent confident that Lorance's platoon was being scouted for an impending attack.

He noted that:"'the three Taliban scouts riding the motorcycle approached Lorance’s platoon from the Northeast ... several insurgents were using ICOM radios and maneuvering into fighting positions to the North, and ... a motorcycle rider came down to the West who was stopped, detained, and was found to have [homemade explosive material] on his hands'."

Three unarmed Afghan men on a motorcycle were near the platoon.

Lorance said that the motorcycle was just seconds away from his troops.

His soldiers testified that the motorcycle was spotted approximately 600 ft away, and several testified that the motorcycle could not have reached the platoon's position.

Attorneys for Lorance attempted to cast doubt on four of the soldiers' accounts, arguing that they were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony.

The other five soldiers who testified against Lorance did not receive immunity.

One of Lorance's soldiers asked if it was acceptable to open fire on the men on the motorcycle, and Lorance, suspecting the approaching men were insurgents, responded "yes."

Private David Shilo said: "I was given a lawful order."

At trial, Private Skelton was attributed as spotting the motorcycle and he stated that "there was no reason to shoot at that moment in time that presented a clear, definitive hostile intent and hostile act."

The American soldier opened fire and missed.

The three Afghans then dismounted and walked towards the Afghan National Army soldiers who were at the front of the mixed US-Afghan patrol, who gestured for the three men to leave.

A second U.S. soldier then opened fire and killed two of the Afghans.

Lorance said later: "I made the best decision I could make, given the conditions on the ground. I would make the same exact decision again today if I was faced with that decision."

Lorance was investigated after the soldiers in his platoon reported the incident.

He was found guilty by a court-martial in 2013 and sentenced to 20 years in prison (later reduced to 19 years by the reviewing commanding general).

He was confined in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for six years.

In 2015, Lorance became a cause célèbre among conservative commentators and activists.

Fox News personalities, in particular Sean Hannity, advocated for Lorance to be pardoned.

Lorance was eventually pardoned by President Donald Trump on November 15, 2019.

Lorance was born and raised in the small town of Hobart, Oklahoma, and lived in Jackson County, Oklahoma.

His father Tracy is a welder, and his mother Anna was a stay-at-home mom.