Shawn Gibson
Encyclopedia
U.S. Army Staff Sergeant (then Sergeant) Shawn Gibson (alt: Timothy, Tom) of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division is one of three US soldiers for whom a Spanish
court issued an international arrest warrant
citing the murder of Telecinco
cameraman José Couso
in April 2003.
The 38-year old Gibson was commanding an M1 Abrams tank
, when he was ordered to fire on Baghdad
's Hotel Palestine after he reported seeing somebody with binoculars on the rooftop. His single shell hit a 15th floor balcony, killing Couso and Reuters
cameraman Taras Protsyuk
. He was later quoted as saying I didn’t fire immediately. I called my chiefs and told them what I’d seen. Ten minutes later they called me and told me to fire and I did. (Tape B, 1:11:45)
Two months later Gibson was interviewed by Sandra Jotz of the Stars and Stripes
, though she made no mention of the high-profile case. The photo captions read
and
Gibson is mentioned in the article of having recently switched from his role as a tank operator, to a Humvee driver through Cooley Camp and Civil Camp - though there is no indication this was as a result of any investigation into the Hotel Palestine shelling. And armored commands throughout Iraq were switching to soft vehicles for routine duties. The article closes with a quote from Gibson Our motto is "They shoot one bullet at us, we shoot 1000 at them"
In August 2003 the US military announced the results of an enquiry into the incident, which concluded that the firing of the shell was legitimate because there was positive evidence they were under observation from attackers. Six months later Reporters Without Borders
announced that while they did not think there was a case against the 3 ground-level soldiers involved, they wanted to see an investigation launched into their superior officers.
In 2005, Gibson appeared in an interview with a Belgian television station, which appears in the documentary film Hotel Palestine: Killing the Witness
In March 2006, the charges against Gibson were dismissed, but the Supreme Court of Spain
overruled that decision in January 2007 and Gibson's arrest was reordered.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
court issued an international arrest warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
citing the murder of Telecinco
Telecinco
Telecinco is a Spanish commercial television channel operated by Mediaset España. Launched in 1990 as Tele 5, it was the fifth of the national terrestrial television channels. In 1997, Tele 5 was rebranded as Telecinco, dropping the flower logo seen in other Mediaset channel...
cameraman José Couso
José Couso
José Couso Permuy was a Spanish cameraman who was one of the April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire after a U.S. tank fired at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq during the 2003 Iraq invasion.-Biography:...
in April 2003.
The 38-year old Gibson was commanding an M1 Abrams tank
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for...
, when he was ordered to fire on Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
's Hotel Palestine after he reported seeing somebody with binoculars on the rooftop. His single shell hit a 15th floor balcony, killing Couso and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman Taras Protsyuk
Taras Protsyuk
Taras Protsyuk was a Ukrainian TV cameraman working for Reuters, who was killed during the US invasion of Iraq.-Biography:Born in Ivano-Frankivsk , Protsyuk was based and lived in Warsaw since 1999 and worked as a cameraman for Reuters since 1993. During his career he covered the conflicts in...
. He was later quoted as saying I didn’t fire immediately. I called my chiefs and told them what I’d seen. Ten minutes later they called me and told me to fire and I did. (Tape B, 1:11:45)
Two months later Gibson was interviewed by Sandra Jotz of the Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
Stars and Stripes is a news source that operates from inside the United States Department of Defense but is editorially separate from it. The First Amendment protection which Stars and Stripes enjoys is safeguarded by Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests,...
, though she made no mention of the high-profile case. The photo captions read
- Htaita Abd and Amera Ktasi’s four children are a little unsure why strangers are in their house. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Gibson stopped in the Habbaniyah, Iraq, neighborhood to check on housing conditions.
and
- During a stop on a patrol, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, enjoys a laugh with Adan Ali, the emir of Civilcamp, a neighborhood of Habbaniyah, Iraq.
Gibson is mentioned in the article of having recently switched from his role as a tank operator, to a Humvee driver through Cooley Camp and Civil Camp - though there is no indication this was as a result of any investigation into the Hotel Palestine shelling. And armored commands throughout Iraq were switching to soft vehicles for routine duties. The article closes with a quote from Gibson Our motto is "They shoot one bullet at us, we shoot 1000 at them"
In August 2003 the US military announced the results of an enquiry into the incident, which concluded that the firing of the shell was legitimate because there was positive evidence they were under observation from attackers. Six months later Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
announced that while they did not think there was a case against the 3 ground-level soldiers involved, they wanted to see an investigation launched into their superior officers.
In 2005, Gibson appeared in an interview with a Belgian television station, which appears in the documentary film Hotel Palestine: Killing the Witness
- Gibson: I was receiving artillery rounds up there in front of my tank, beside my tank, up under my tank. They were shooting up under my tank with RPGs on the bridge. You go over to the bridge right now, you will see holes up under the bridge where my tank was sitting. Want to go look at my tank and see the shots on my tank? Come on, let's take a look at that. Come on.
- Pascale Bourgaux: (overdubbed) He tells me, "I’ll show you my tank, how we were attacked". He takes me all around the tank, and shows me the holes, from all kinds of artillery.
- Gibson: See, they shot my grenade launcher.
- Narrator:(overdubbed) Weeks later, on the bridge, we still find evidence of the battle, although not as much as Gibson asserted.
In March 2006, the charges against Gibson were dismissed, but the Supreme Court of Spain
Supreme Court of Spain
The Supreme Court of Spain is the highest court in Spain for all matters not pertaining to the Spanish Constitution. The court which meets in the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, consists of a president and an indeterminate number of magistrates appointed to the five chambers of the...
overruled that decision in January 2007 and Gibson's arrest was reordered.