IRAQ WAR VET FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM IN WYOMING STAND YOUR GROUND CASE IRAQ WAR VET FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM IN WYOMING STAND YOUR GROUND CASE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran John Henry Knospler, Jr. admitted to killing James Kade Baldwin outside a Casper, Wyoming, strip club in the early morning hours of Oct. 4, 2013, but claims he shot the 24-year-old Casper native in self-defense. Knospler says he was sleeping in his car rather than drive intoxicated from the bar when an angry Baldwin inexplicably bashed in his window and violently attacked him. Despite evidence that appeared to back Knospler’s claims, the 38-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder on Dec. 23, 2014, and sentenced to up to 50 years in prison. His sole appeal was denied by the Wyoming Supreme Court in 2016. Knospler has vehemently maintained his innocence over the years, and he recently filed a motion seeking to vacate his conviction based primarily on new forensic evidence. It is largely seen as what could be his last and best chance of getting a new trial. “I’m hopeful, you know,” Knospler told The Daily Caller in a January phone interview from the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. “I feel terrible that their family lost a son. I feel a whole lot for them. But I put myself in his shoes. If I punched through somebody’s window in the middle of the night and caught a bullet to my chest, that’s what I would expect someone to do to me. I did what I thought was necessary.” Knospler’s case has been largely ignored in the greater national Second Amendment and stand-your-ground debates. Race does not appear to be a factor in the case, as both Knospler and Baldwin are white. Wyoming law allows someone to use deadly force in self-defense if they believe they are in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm. The burden is on the state to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant did not act in self-defense. Knospler grew up on a small farm in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania — the oldest of three siblings. There, he, along with his father, John Sr.; mother, Patricia; brother, Jacob; and sister, Leighanne, lived a rustic lifestyle. They played outdoors, raised livestock and grew their own vegetables. They also fished, and Knospler’s father hunted. Knospler was athletic and grew up playing sports like baseball, football and soccer with his brother https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMG_1179.jpg “We went on trips. My parents thought it was really important that we saw certain things in the country,” Knospler said. “They took us to Gettysburg, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They thought it was important that we see those things when we were young to have an understanding of what our country was founded on.” His parents stressed the importance of education, but they also stressed the importance of service. Knospler’s father is a Navy veteran. After he graduated high school, Knospler bounced around, rudderless, for about year. He was a dishwasher at a restaurant, then he worked construction. He tried a semester of college before deciding to join the Marine Corps. “That whole year, I was in conversation with my dad and he was kind of dropping hints like, ‘Hey, I know you, and I think the service will probably be the best thing for you, just because I don’t think you’re ready for a classroom and you don’t want to stay here and get stuck doing construction for the rest of your life,’” he recounted. Knospler joined the Marines in 2000. His first duty station was Hawaii and the 3rd Marine Regiment, where he served as an accounting clerk. “I have an attention to detail and was able to pick out the errors and figure them out, how and why things were not in order,” Knospler said. “It was essential to that unit, but to me, I felt like I could be doing more.” Knospler was already looking for a new job within the Corps when the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. He wanted to join the fight so he decided then to become a reconnaissance Marine, which is considered elite. Recon Marines — as they are often times called — are responsible for getting close to the enemy and observing and reporting their movements, the majority of the time unseen. By December 2002, Knospler had joined 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, and by the following summer, he deployed to southern Iraq. “My first deployment, we were hiding in the bushes, just taking pictures of boats,” Knospler recalled. “We were never seen.” https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMG_1158-e1550266956372.jpg By the time they returned stateside, Knospler was just months from getting out of the Corps — but then tragedy struck. A team from their parent unit was ambushed and nearly wiped out in Iraq and they needed replacements. Knospler volunteered and was sent on a seven-month deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, the seven months preceding the Second Battle of Fallujah. “That deployment was a lot more stressful; it was a lot more dangerous,” Knospler said. “But, again, we were doing reconnaissance, and we were smart about what we were doing, and for the most part, we remained out of sight.” Knospler re-enlisted there. Upon returning home, he joined 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. He wasn’t home long. Knospler was sent back to Iraq a third time to train Iraqi Special Forces. When he got back from that deployment, he was assigned to the new Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command as a reconnaissance instructor in MARSOC’s special missions’ training branch. His job was to get the new Marine Special Forces operators ready to deploy. MARSOC was his last stop in the Marine Corps before being discharged in 2008. ( FULL STORY IN LINK BELOW ) https://dailycaller.com/2019/02/16/false-witness-iraq-war-vet-freedom-wyoming-case/ via @dailycaller