In 2010, then-Army Pfc. Bradley Manning leaked thousands of classified documents to the website WikiLeaks. In that trove of intelligence was the explosive video above, showing U.S. Army troops delightedly firing upon a group of men in Baghdad from an Apache helicopter. The 2007 incident left 11 dead.
A Reuters photographer and his driver were among those killed in the attack. When a good samaritan came to pick up those injured in the first round of fire, the helicopter unleashed another hail of 30mm bullets on the civilian's van. The driver of that vehicle was killed, and his two children were severely injured. The military initially claimed that the episode had led to the death of nine insurgents and two civilians, though the video suggests that only one person was armed, and had never shot at U.S. troops.
Reuters filed a Freedom of Information Act request in the wake of the incident, hoping to get a copy of the video to better understand what had happened on that day. The Pentagon delayed, but with Manning's move, the world saw it anyway. An Army investigation into the attack, released only after Manning's leak was published, ultimately concluded that the helicopter crew had followed the rules of engagement.
Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday for passing intelligence to WikiLeaks. He faced a maximum of 90 years in prison.