RALEIGH, N.C. — The security firm formerly known as Blackwater armed some of its workers in Afghanistan despite U.S. military documents that prohibited them from carrying guns, said two former contractors who were fired after they were involved in a fatal shooting in the country.
Justin Cannon and Steven McClain said Thursday that they frequently asked superiors why the company distributed the AK-47 assault rifles without Department of Defense authorization.
“We were just told, ‘Continue doing your job. Don’t worry about it. That’s above your paygrade,’ ” Cannon, 27, of Texas, said in an interview with The Associated Press. The men were involved in a shooting earlier this month that killed an Afghan and injured two others, and they recently returned to the U.S.
Blackwater, now known as Xe, has said the company’s subsidiary Paravant fired the men “for failure to comply with the terms of their contract.”
McClain showed a letter detailing his termination, and it listed a violation of alcohol policy as the only specific reason for firing. Both men said they hadn’t drunk since arriving in Afghanistan in November. Their attorney, Daniel J. Callahan, said he thinks the company is making up the alcohol issue so it can avoid scrutiny over contractors being armed.
Xe spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell declined to comment on the accusations.
