AMY GOODMAN: How did you hear that Scott had died? In fact, from what I understand, and folks that we have talked to, they had asked for a map shortly before going out on their mission, and basically the individual who was in charge of handing out the maps said, Its too late for a map now, and sent them on their way. Justin's ethnicity is Caucasian, whose political affiliation is unknown; and religious views are listed as Christian. units, but Blackwater didnt provide them with the maps to go in the G.P.S. units for the Middle East. Helvenston arrived in Kuwait on March 18, where he was under the management of John and Kathy Potter, whom he knew from Combat Missions. JEREMY SCAHILL: Well, as we got a few of the facts of the case from the clip that we just played from Frontline, but I also want to say that the four men I just want to say their names: Scott Helvenston, of course, is Katys son; then there was Mike Teague; Jerko Zovko, who was known as Jerry; and then Wes Batalona, who was talked about there. Username. It was merely small-arms fire, which could have been repelled by armored vehicles.. Mr. Rumsfeld . KATY HELVENSTON: And I had called I did several follow-up calls, and I said, I still dont have that information.. AMY GOODMAN: What did he think he was going to be doing? Helvenston et al. And I had actually flown up there one weekend and spent the weekend with them. And it all stems back to the point: if these folks had known that Blackwater was going to cut costs and was going to not provide them with everything that they were promised, would they have still done it? The families of the four men, led by Scott Helvenston's mother Katy Helvenston-Wettengel and Donna Zovko, Jerry Zovko's mother, filed suit against Blackwater with lawyer Daniel . KATY HELVENSTON: Yes, and Mark Burnett produced that movie. According to Callahan, there was a safer alternative route that went around the city, which the men were unaware of because of Blackwaters failure to conduct a risk assessment before the trip, as mandated by the contract. Since its filing in January 2005, the case has moved slowly through the legal system. If it had been up to Katy Helvenston, her son wouldnt have been in Iraq at all. KATY HELVENSTON: I was told that its unheard of. At 17 he made history by becoming the youngest person ever to complete the rigorous Navy SEAL program. Justin McQuown is a Director, Engineering at Caretaker Medical based in Charlottesville, Virginia. McQuown And the guard that was in charge of me, I said, You know, you really need to do something about these helicopters. You know, and he left for a minute or two, and finally the helicopters went away. KATY HELVENSTON: Scottys daddy died when he was seven, and my youngest son was a year old, and I raised them, and so money was always an issue. Its going to be deliberate. In fact, Blackwaters then-general counsel, Steve Capace, gave a workshop last May on the subject to an International Super-Conference for contractors. He is the writer, with David Riker, and a producer of the documentary feature filmDirty Wars, released by IFC Films in 2013. Tell us about your family, why he went into the military, and then what you understand about what he understood about the mission he went out on on March 31. The U.S. attack was sparked by the gruesome killing of four private contractors inside Fallujah. placementName: "thenation_right_rail", By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 andagree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. After the killings, Katy Helvenston joined the families of Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona in grieving and in seeking details about the incident. For most people, the gruesome killings were the first they had ever heard of Blackwater USA, a small, North Carolina-based private security company. It is unusual, though, for the head of a company to cast its lot entirely with one party, and it has paid off, because Blackwater literally is making a killing right now, to the point where Gary Jackson, the president of Blackwater, after Bush won the election in 2004, sends out an email to Blackwaters mailing list that says, Bush wins, four more years!! At $21 million, it represented the companys biggest contract in Iraq. Im driven and Im not going to quit. tn_author: ['jeremy-s'], He trained Demi Moore for her film G.I. We couldnt hear anything that was being said. And so, what happened is they set out on their mission, but because they didnt have G.P.S., because they didnt have maps of the area, because they werent able to do a pre-trip inspection of the route, they didnt necessarily know where they were going, so they essentially got lost. But he says he was, quote, very manipulative, duplicative, immature and unprofessional.. KATY HELVENSTON: In the rooms on the balcony, because we had gotten so paranoid, we thought maybe the rooms were tapped or something. And so, in that whole pyramid scheme, what you saw was Blackwater had a subcontract with this Kuwaiti company, and the Kuwaiti company had the contract with E.S.S., so the contract with E.S.S., the company that provides the catering services, said explicitly because there is a very serious security situation in Fallujah it actually names Fallujah as one of the cities these men need to be traveling in armored vehicles. On April 17, President Bush spoke at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Justin J Shrek, age 31, Summerfield, FL Search Report. And both the boys knew that if they were going to go through college, they had to figure out a way. There he was. And the email, its incredible, because Scott sort of makes all these apologetics. Blackwater and Regency had essentially wrestled the ESS contract from another security firm, Control Risk Group, and were eager to win more lucrative contracts from ESS in its other division servicing construction projects in Iraq. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. Simply Ernest: Pity the poor mercenary - Blogger Lets see if we can screw with Scott. Were joined by Jeremy Scahill, who did the piece for The Nation magazine, out today, Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater, appearing in the new issue; Katy Helvenston with us, mother of Scott Helvenston - today, she is speaking out in a national broadcast live for the first time -; and Marc Miles, attorney for the families of the four men, the Blackwater contractors killed in Fallujah. Username. Blackwater has not offered a rebuttal to the specific allegations made by the families, except to deny in general that they are valid. Shortly after entering the city, they get stuck in traffic, and their small convoy is ambushed. Marc Miles, attorney for the families of the four Blackwater contractors killed in Fallujah, March 31, 2004. AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us what happened when you asked for an incident report for what happened to your son? And Im reading these articles, and all of a sudden . VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. KATY HELVENSTON: He refused to even speak to me. AMY GOODMAN: Now, he was on television before he went to Iraq, is that right? And if you stop and you think about it, thats the size of some small towns here in America. Prince has never given a penny to a Democrat. I wrote an email to Gary Jackson, the president of Blackwater. And the insurgents knew that it was a fairly easy mark. Several armed men approach the two vehicles and open fire from behind, repeatedly shooting the men at point-blank range. Instead, kitchen equipment, actually empty trucks that were going to get kitchen equipment. All this was shady enoughbut the real danger for Helvenston and the others lay in Blackwaters decision to cut corners to make even more money. KATY HELVENSTON: He has two beautiful children, and he was an incredible father. AMY GOODMAN: Well, what was the memorial service itself like? Helvenston Et Al. It is one of the most infamous incidents of the war in Iraq: On March 31, 2004, four private American security contractors get lost and end up driving through the center of Falluja, a hotbed of Sunni resistance to the US occupation. They charged the government $400,000 for 14 guys for 28 days in September of 2005 14 guys, $400,000 for 22 days in September. MARC MILES: I wouldnt be surprised if there are other incidents like this. JUAN GONZALEZ: Marc Miles, I would like to ask you, obviously there have been about 425, now, Americans who have been working for contractors who have been killed in Iraq. Please do your part today. They had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with us. And then, when we come back, I want to ask you about your request for an incident report from Blackwater to understand what had taken place and also about a memorial service that Blackwater held, and well continue this discussion. Reading this, it would seem that Blackwater has a reasonable defense. By the end of 2004 Blackwaters president, Gary Jackson, was bragging to the press of staggering 600 percent growth. A few nights before Scott was killed, and actually the night before he left Kuwait to go to Baghdad, he sent an email to the owner, president and upper management of Blackwater, and the subject of that email was extreme unprofessionalism. And in this email, which we have, he is complaining about Justin McQuown, who he refers to as Justin Shrek. Scott Helvenston apparently thought his actual name was Shrek and was referring to him as Justin Shrek throughout the email. Hidden Potential Official Site. Corporations are fictional entitiesthey only act through their personnel, explains Miles. While some of that may be legitimate defense tactics, the lawyers argue that the company has actively prevented court-ordered depositions from taking place, including taking steps to prevent a key witness from testifying: John Potter, the man who blew the whistle on Blackwaters removal of the word armored from the contract and was subsequently removed. Full Interview: Frank Mugisha on New Anti-, Former Guantnamo Prisoners Ask Biden to Let Them Keep Art They Made to Escape Inhumane Conditions. He had two men with him that held Scotty down. But while the families were grieving, Blackwater viewed it as a profit opportunity. And so, what happened that particular day from the evidence that Ive accumulated is that they were basically told to escort three flatbed trucks, which I understand were going to pick up some kitchen equipment, far different from what Scott Helvenston had understood, that he would be guarding an ambassador. When we cover the climate emergency, our reporting isnt sponsored by the oil, gas, coal or nuclear companies. And Im thinking this isnt even close to what Blackwater told me. But then things started to get strange. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties . The families of the four men, led by Scott Helvenston's mother Katy Helvenston-Wettengel and Donna Zovko, Jerry Zovko's mother, filed suit against Blackwater with lawyer Daniel . The insurgents made their own video of the aftermath. The lawsuit alleges that these men were defrauded, because Blackwater failed to provide them with the basic minimal guarantees of their contract, among them that they would be in armored vehicles, that they would have heavy weapons, something like a SAW Mach 46 machine gun that could fire up to 850 rounds per minute, and its very key. The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. Its natural to assume that the visibility of the dangers could drive up salaries for the folks who have to stand in the path of the bullets, he said. But first we begin by going back to March 31 2004 the day Scott Helvenston and three other Blackwater contractors drove into Fallujah. Scott Helvenston, Katys son, was the youngest Navy Seal ever. Not so, say the families of the four men and their lawyers. They made a killing off of New Orleans. While it is not unheard of for a successful business to cast its lot entirely with one party, it has clearly paid off. An analysis of Princes contributions prepared for The Nation by the Center for Responsive Politics reveals that since 1989, Prince and his wife have given some $275,550 to Republican campaigns. Justin Shreck. Justin McQuowns nickname, according to documents weve gotten and to other people who were in Kuwait and Iraq at the time, was Shrek, after the green ogre character, and it doesnt sound like he was too popular of a guy and really sort of targeted Scott Helvenston. KATY HELVENSTON: Yes, he was Demi Moores personal trainer for the G.I. Beast, he was the only contestant to defeat the beast, outmaneuvering a chimpanzee in an obstacle course. AMY GOODMAN: Moyock in North Carolina, where Blackwater is based. Helvenston et al. AMY GOODMAN: Were going to break, Katy. Theyre angrytheyre saying, Let me go over,' Blackwater spokesman Chris Bertelli told the Virginian-Pilot ten days after the killings, adding that applications to work for Blackwater had increased considerably in that time. Blackwater is scooping up lucrative Homeland Security contracts. Well, that left Scott no choice. The Zovko family asked Blackwater to see the After Action Report detailing the incident. There should be three men per team. But Blackwater was not aware of that. In early 2004 Helvenston was between jobs and was eking out a living with the stints on reality TV, the movie consulting and the fitness videos. And I had no idea it was Scotty, but I saw this burning vehicle, and I just said, This is insane. And I switched stations. K.B.R. JUAN GONZALEZ: And how unusual is it to take someone out of their team and assign them to another team and send them out on a mission? Justin L McQuown, 50 - Virginia Beach, VA - MyLife.com Jane), and was also featured in the reality shows Combat . KATY HELVENSTON: I called Blackwater at about 7:00 at night. Blackwater is being sued for the wrongful deaths of Stephen Scott Helvenston, Mike Teague, Jerko Zovko and Wesley Batalona by the families of the men slain in Falluja. And I had turned off the ringer on my bedroom phone, and he left this message, and he said, Mom, Im okay. Were talking to Katy Helvenston, Scotts mother; Jeremy Scahill, whos breaking the story today in The Nation magazine; and Marc Miles, the attorney for the families of the four Blackwater employees. They were vulnerable and obvious. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. My family wouldnt let me read any of the articles, they were so graphic. And theres all sorts of Scott speaks to us posthumously through his email, and I just want to read from this. They wrote back to us and said, Out of respect for the families and the integrity of the judicial proceedings, I cannot join you. Helvenston v. Blackwater Security explained Warns of Humanitarian Breaking Point, Israeli Forces Kill Two More Palestinian Teens in Occupied West Bank, Over 200 Bodies of Drowned Migrants Found by Tunisian Coast Guards in Less Than 2 Weeks, Santiago Pea Elected President of Paraguay, Keeping Dominant Pro-Taiwan Party in Power, Climate Defiance: Protesters Disrupt White House Correspondents Dinner, Montana Governor Signs Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Minors, First Republic Becomes Second-Largest Bank to Fail in U.S. History, Texas Suspect Used AR-15 Rifle in Execution-Style Killings of Five Neighbors, Colorado Governor Signs Bills to Curb Gun Violence, May Day Rallies and Protests Worldwide Mark International Workers Day, Jeffrey Sachs on Chinas Historic Push for Multipolar World to End U.S. Later that night, according to Scotts mother, McQuown came up to Helvenstons hotel room. In the presentation, called Managing Contracting Risks in Battlefield Conditions, Capace laid out a legal strategy for deflecting the kind of lawsuit Blackwater now faces. Its a well-connected, Republican-controlled business that has made its fortune because of the Bush Administration. Hooyah! Hooyah!!. Helvenston's contract We speak with Jeremy Scahill as well as Katy Helvenston, the mother of Scott Helvenston who was killed in Fallujah, and the attorney in the case, Marc Miles. Erik Prince, himself, for this piece I worked with the Center for Public Integrity, and we put together a profile of Erik Princes familys political contributions. Blackwater founder Erik Prince personally delivered money to some of the families for funeral expenses, and the company moved to get the mens wives and children benefits under the governments Defense Base Act, which in some cases insures those on contract supporting US military operations abroad. Helvenston began training at Blackwater USA's facilities in March 2004, and developed a personal conflict with head trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown. JEREMY SCAHILL: Per day. But it just shows sort of the breakdown. According to the suit, McQuown lacked the credentials of Helvenston and other ex-SEALs. !, The White House, for its part, has turned the issue of accountability of Blackwater and other private security companies into a joke, literally. tn_loc:'atf' I didnt want to watch it. They will be accountable., Still, Blackwater has friends in high places. justin shrek'' mcquown According to the suit, McQuown lacked the credentials of Helvenston and other ex-SEALs. This is a precedent-setting case, says Marc Miles, an attorney for the families. Lawyer Paul Dickinson: The U.S. I did want to ask you, Katy Helvenston, about the email that we got from Blackwater, from Chris Taylor, who said, Out of respect for the families and the integrity of the judicial proceedings, I cannot join you. Your response? It was like $19,000-something. They said Blackwater.. Indeed, the real scandal here isnt that these men were sent into Falluja with only a four-person detail when there should have been six or that they didnt have a powerful enough machine gun to kill their attackers. President Bush issued a statement through his spokesperson. But we couldnt hear anything, because there were these two helicopters that were flying, I mean, just a couple hundred foot over our heads. Erik Prince refused to speak to me. For Reprints and Permissions, click here. Justin McQuown's nickname, according to documents we've gotten and to other people who were in Kuwait and Iraq at the time, was "Shrek," after the green ogre character, and it doesn't . This is not even close. After his talk, he took questions from students at the school. It wasnt just a compilation of everything that was going on. There was a manmade pond with brand-new bark, you know, cypress bark. About 6,000 of these are security contractors. Domination, Sing Your Song: Remembering Harry Belafonte, Who Used His Stardom to Help. About: Scott Helvenston He swam like a fish. JEREMY SCAHILL: I was very diligent in trying to get Blackwater to make any comment. They were not provided with the six folks that they were supposed to have in each vehicle. And I think that, you know, when we talk about Iraq corruption, a lot of times its Halliburton overcharged for this or Bechtel did this. But instead, they missed that turnoff, and they ended up driving straight through the center of Fallujah, and it was as they got through the middle of town that they got stuck in traffic, that they were ultimately ambushed. AMY GOODMAN: And so, were you able to talk out of the presence of the guards? In a moment she will join us along with her attorney Marc Miles who is representing the families, Marc Miles. So, essentially, they had G.P.S. v. Blackwater Security is the lawsuit for wrongful death filed by the families of the four contractors for Blackwater Security (since renamed Academi ) murdered in the 31 March 2004 Fallujah ambush. New Yorks Working Families Party Came Back From the Brink. Social:Helvenston v. Blackwater Security - HandWiki Were gonna go have fun. This is what delegationI dont mean to be dodging the question, although its kind of convenient in this case, but never[laughter] I really willIm going to call the Secretary and say you brought up a very valid question, and what are we doing about it? Heres Why. And Donna, she misunderstood where this money was coming from. The State Department regulations call for six people to be on a security detail in Iraq, because of the security situation, while these men were sent out with only four. You may unsubscribe or adjust your preferences at any time. It was good money, but it was never enough, his mother remembers. And like thousands and thousands of people in this war, their financial situation was one of the motivations that brought them to Iraq, where they could some of these guys would make $600 a paycheck in the United States, and they could make $600 a day by going to work for Blackwater or DynCorp or other companies. There was a local minister that spoke, and then Erik Prince spoke. targeting:{ Katy Helvenston, your response? The suit further alleges that McQuown intervened and ordered only a four-man team be sent, although six were available, the other two remaining to perform clerical duties. That, in and of itself, is quite unusual, that these guys would not get a chance to acclimate themselves to the very hostile environment that theyre going to be operating in. As always, click on the title of the post above. And the noon news, it had this just all of a sudden it caught my attention, and I looked over there, and I thought, Oh, my god, you know. And Scott wrote in this email to Blackwater, that I think [that my team leader] felt that there was a hidden agenda. Given the uncounted tens of thousands of Iraqis who have died since the invasion and the slaughter in Falluja that followed the Blackwater incident, some might say this lawsuit is just warmongers bickeringno honor among thieves. Instead, the men set out at 8:30 in the morning with just two men per car, each short a rear gunner. slotId: "thenation_right_rail_72445", Our tasks are dangerous and while we feel sadness for our fallen colleagues, we also feel pride and satisfaction that we are making a difference for the people of Iraq., The company swiftly rose to international prominence: Journalists were flooding Blackwater with calls, and military types were clamoring to sign up for work. It has fought to have the case dismissed on grounds that because Blackwater is servicing US armed forces it cannot be sued for workers deaths or injuries and that all liability lies with the government. I had my bedroom phone ringer turned offI didnt get the call, so he left me a message. And so, corporate America is primarily concerned with their bottom line. John Potter had recently teamed Blackwater up with a Kuwaiti business called Regency Hotel and Hospital Company, and together the firms won a security contract with Eurest Support Services (ESS), guarding convoys transporting kitchen equipment to the US military. But late on the evening of March 27, McQuown called Helvenston and told him that he needed to pack his things immediately, that he would be leaving at 5 am with a completely different team. Help. Every dollar makes a differencein fact, gets doubled! Many firms specializing in contractor law advertise the DBA as the best way for corporations servicing the war to avoid being sued. You did the piece, the investigation into this case. Is he okay? And they said they didnt know. He reported . is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. ease arkansas phone number This is what delegation - I dont mean to be dodging the question, although its kind of convenient in this case, but never- I really will. Thats the only thing they understand, she says. He was told at that time that he was not going to be doing security for the ambassador, Paul Bremer, and he was going to escort a convoy of trucks to pick up kitchen equipment. } In its motion to dismiss the case in federal court, Blackwater argues that the families of the four men killed in Falluja are entitled only to government insurance payments. But on March 12, 2004, Blackwater and Regency signed a subcontract, which specified security provisions identical to the original except for one word: armored. Blackwater deleted it from the contract. And this Justin McQuown was the instructor there at Moyock, and he was outraged that Scott had the audacity to even suggest that there was a better way. You will be launched to my site where you can watch the teaching. Would he speak to them? What Blackwater is trying to do is to sweep all of their wrongful conduct into the Defense Base Act, says Miles. The suit alleges that Blackwater trainer Justin "Shrek" McQuown resented Helvenston and deliberately reassigned Helvenston to the team that was ambushed. JEREMY SCAHILL: Right. You know, at least I know he wasnt burned alive. Instead, this team was sent out without the required equipment and personnel by those in charge at Blackwater.. With regard to the wrongful death of these four men, that face is Justin McQuown of Blackwater. The company refused to comment on the case, but McQuowns lawyer, William Crenshaw, told The Nation there are numerous serious factual errors in the lawsuit, saying, On behalf of Mr. McQuown, we extend our sincerest sympathies to the families of the deceased. Unfortunately, what they didnt know was that there was a much safer route that took them around the north side of Fallujah. In one of its few statements on the suit, Blackwater spokesperson Chris Bertelli said, Blackwater hopes that the honor and dignity of our fallen comrades are not diminished by the use of the legal process. Katy Helvenston calls that total BS in my opinion, and says that the families decided to sue only after being stonewalled, misled and lied to by the company. KATY HELVENSTON: Yeah. It was one of these reality TV things. Over a thousand people died because of what happened to Scotty that day, says Katy Helvenston. has denied any relationship to this and wont talk about it anymore. When they took that word armored out, Blackwater was able to save $1.5 million in not buying armored vehicles, which they could then put in their pocket, says attorney Miles. However, Iraq is clearly not currently capable of enforcing its laws, much less against you know, over our American military contractors. They deleted the word armored. And Marc Miles says that in doing that, Blackwater was able to save $1.5 million. In honor of Public Media Giving Days, a generous donor will DOUBLE your donation, which means itll go twice as far to support our independent journalism. And he came up to Scotts room a couple days before Scott was murdered and got into an altercation, and he took Scotts gun away from him. And she was told that they would have to sue Blackwater to get that information. KATY HELVENSTON: Yeah. And the people he had been with in Kuwait City, all of a sudden he was no longer working in that team. If you think Democracy Now!s reporting is a critical line of defense against war, climate catastrophe and fascism, please make your donation of $10 or more right now. These four guys were sent out without armor, without the adequate guns, without adequate personnel, and Blackwater takes it as a moment to say, 'Hey, we're famous now. Yes. And that night he was ordered to change teams and go into Fallujah. Im gonna take care of you. You know, just stuff like that, which obviously wasnt true. MARC MILES: Because what happened here is the issue is framed in the context of: Did these folks know what they were getting into? They have no values, they have no morals.
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