Email these three and tell them to wake up and support Evan's release

SHAME SHAME SHAME: From left, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, Maggie Hassen and Dist. 1 rep Chris Pappas; inset, Evan Liberty, risking his life in Iraq so that we remain free. (Courtesy photos)

Editor's note: This column was originally published on Memorial Day. It's link from The Rochester Voice Facebook page was found missing today, so we are reposting it so folks have another avenue to learn about the plight of Evan Liberty of Rochester. It's also fitting to repost it today during this 4th of July weekend. Please share this article so it gets to more Americans and we can right a wrong that never should have happened.

Memorial Day is a sacred day set aside each and every year to honor the country's war dead, but this one time let's also remember and recognize the four men wrongly imprisoned in a wartime shootout in Iraq in 2007 who die a little each day.

Seven Republican Congressmen recently sent the president a letter calling for a full pardon of the men of Raven 23 (pronounced Raven 2-3).

In a Rochester Voice story published on June 19, the digital daily questioned whether the state's Democrat delegation - including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassen and District I Rep. Chris Pappas - were playing politics when they refused to comment on the plight of 37-year-old Evan Liberty, a native son of Rochester who joined the Marine his senior year at Spaulding High.

We phoned and emailed these three politicians several times over the course of a week prior to publishing the story, but they never returned a call or email. Never.

So they can't even return an email from a newspaper seeking a statement on the wrongful continued imprisonment of one of their constituents.

That's bad enough, but understand this: They didn't even return an email from Brian Liberty, Evan's father, who also reached out to New Hampshire's all-Democrat delegation this past week after news surfaced that the Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus had sent President Trump a letter urging him to pardon Evan and three other former Blackwater guards put behind bars after a bogus 2014 trial in the nation's capital.

Here's the exact words of our email sent to public affairs officers for Shaheen, Hassen and Pappas on Tuesday:

Hi (spokesperson's name)

The Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus recently presented a letter to President Trump urging him to pardon four former Blackwater guards in the so-called Nisour Square Massacre in Baghdad in 2007.

One of the guards, Evan Liberty, is a native son of Rochester.

I am begging you to familiarize (Ms Shaheen, Ms Hassen, Mr Pappas) with the facts of the case as newly revealed.

Some 10 Congressmen signed the letter to Trump.

If you read my recent article it will detail some of the prosecutorial missteps. https://www.therochestervoice.com/congressional-caucus-urges-trump-to-pardon-evan-liberty-and-the-biden-four-cms-14242

The caucus' press release regarding the letter sent President Trump can be seen here.

https://gohmert.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399780

Unfortunately the four former Blackwater guards have now been dubbed The Biden Four - you will understand why after reading the article and the press release - however I ask you to put aside any partisanship and think of Evan as a son or brother who has spent almost six years in jail already for doing no wrong. The proof is now there.

I am asking for an interview or a statement by Wednesday.

The egregious nature of this case is breathtaking.

And if you disagree with that narrative, please send a statement saying why that is. I will be happy to print it verbatim!

Good health,

The Rochester Voice

Now if you're not bullshit, you're not breathing.

From left, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough

When we first learned that Evan and three others had been dubbed the Biden Four since it was the former Vice President who guaranteed the Iraqi government the Obama administration wouldn't rest till they were behind bars, we knew it was going to be tough sledding to get support from Democrats.

But last June they weren't known as the Biden Four. They were known as Raven 23.

So Shaheen, Hassen and Pappas are staying mum for a reason. Even before Liberty, Nicholas Slatten, Dustin Heard and Paul Slough were known as the Biden Four, presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden - and his former boss, Barack Obama, along with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - all had their fingerprints all over the railroading of these brave men.

In fact no politician whatsoever has come to the defense of Evan and his former comrades with two exceptions: former District I Republican rep Frank Guinta and Rochester Mayor Caroline McCarley, a longtime Democrat, whom I consider a hero in her own right for having the courage to say it's time for Evan to be released.

Why? Probably because she knows Evan personally. Her son and Evan are lifelong friends.You see when it comes to local folk, partisanship takes a back seat. We know each other a little too well to spew the partisan bullcrap.

So on this Memorial Day, let's not only remember those who died defending our way of life, but those who die a little each day behind bars for a crime they didn't commit.

Please, while you're stuck at home under the governor's Stay at Home 2.0 order, take 10 minutes to email the three listed below and tell them to "Wake up and support a pardon for Evan, Paul, Nicholas and Dustin, so they can get back to their lives. They did nothing wrong."

Do it for all those who died keeping us the home of the brave and the land of the free.

I guarantee you they'll be toasting you from Heaven when they see you click the "send" button.

To urge New Hampshire's two senators and Dist. 1 rep to support a presidential pardon use the following emails.

https://www.shaheen.senate.gov/contact/contact-jeanne

https://www.hassan.senate.gov/contact

https://pappas.house.gov/

To write a letter to President Trump urging a pardon. Mail it to the White House through this government portal. A letter suggested by the group "Free Raven 23" is below.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

President Donald J. Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Re: The Decorated Veterans of Blackwater's Tactical Support Team Raven 23

Dear President Trump:

I am writing on behalf of four decorated veterans who need your help. These men--Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nick Slatten, and Paul Slough--went to war for our country and served deployments to some of the world's most dangerous regions. Then, after their tours were over, they went back into harm's way as contractors supporting the Department of State's mission to bring democracy to Iraq.

In 2007, while working under Blackwater's contract with the State Department, they came under fire and faced a car bomb threat in a Baghdad war zone. They used the force necessary to do their jobs and come home to their families, only to find themselves convenient targets of a political witch hunt. For nearly eleven years, they have been fighting their way through a civilian justice system that has failed at every turn.

As a result of numerous rights violations during the legal proceedings, one of these men (Nick) is scheduled to be retried (by a second civilian jury) in June 2018. The other three men (Dustin, Evan, and Paul) will be resentenced sometime after that.

I ask that you look into their case. These are good, honorable men who, under stronger leadership, would still be fighting for this country, not against its government. What has passed for justice so far in their case is anything but, and it is time that is recognized through a presidential pardon.

Respectfully,
[Your name]

To listen to Congressional Justice for Warriors Caucus leader Louie Gohmert's comments on a Raven 23/Biden Four podcast go to https://www.buzzsprout.com/389536/3730862-congressional-justice-for-warriors-caucus-offically-requests-presidental-pardon-for-men-of-raven-23

To sign the online petition go to https://www.change.org/p/president-donald-j-trump-mr-president-please-pardon-the-biden-four