Foul Play Suspected in Death of War Crimes Researcher and Biden Critic

Gonzalo Lira. Russell "Texas" Bentley. Now, Scott Bennett. Life tends to end suddenly for activists and journalists who criticize U.S. policy towards Russia.

“Since the film we made might create a hostile environment for me from the U.S. government, there’s a chance that something bad could happen to me. So if something does happen to me, or I leave this world, please know that we must always stand and speak the truth loudly when others remain silent.”

The man who wrote these words nine months ago was reported to be deceased this weekend. On Feb 25, former U.S. Army soldier and war crimes investigator Scott Bennett premiered his documentary film, Frontline Diary of an American Officer, at the “Time of Heroes” film festival in Moscow. The film exposes the many years of NATO/ Ukrainian war crimes in Donbass.

Information about his death, as well as his life, is scarce. The American media ignored his passing. Only Russian media paid attention, and most suspect foul play. In the past year, Bennett had become a highly visible critic of U.S. foreign policy thanks to his collaboration with RT, the Moscow-based global news channel.

Colleagues said he was in good health and didn’t complain of any ailments. Leading Russian media personalities such as Margarita Simonyan (head of RT) and Anna Shafran (TV host and producer at “Spas” and “Zvezda”) are certain that Bennett was murdered, and didn’t succumb to cancer as others claim.

"Scott Bennett may well have been killed, possibly for telling the truth about the conflict in Ukraine," said Simonyan, adding that Bennett was one of RT's top military experts and documentarians. "He told his friends that he was not suicidal, in case something happened to him."

“Scott Bennett and I were friends. He gave me several interviews for ‘Spas’. I’m convinced he was murdered. I’ve no doubt about it. People suffering from cancer do not look or speak the way Scott did. He was poisoned,” wrote Anna Shafran. “He was incredibly cheerful, energetic, with no fear of speaking uncomfortable truths. During one of our interviews, I even thought — maybe you shouldn’t be so outspoken, Scott — I worry about the lives and safety of my interlocutors who fight this inhumane globalist system.”

Unfortunately, some confusion has crept into the discussion over his death; a few Moscow journalists and bloggers claim that it was due to “pancreatic cancer,” without citing a credible source. Unless those people can provide a detailed autopsy report and his medical history, I think they should not make such claims.

Considering the dangerous topic that he was researching, and who his enemies were, and that he had plans to return to Donbass and shoot another documentary film about NATO war crimes, it’s highly probable that Bennett was murdered. As often in such cases, we won’t ever know for sure.

The one thing that’s for certain — Bennett was a thorn in the side of the White House, CIA and Pentagon. And since he has a background in U.S. government service, I suspect they wanted to send a message to others with pangs of guilt over the war crimes committed on Uncle Sam’s behalf.

Their threats will be in vain. Scott Bennett’s film about NATO/ Ukrainian war crimes Donbass will live on and will continue to inspire those who believe in justice.