Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater USA

A civil lawsuit accuses Blackwater USA and its founder, Erik Prince, of being responsible for the deaths of more than 20 innocent Iraqis. During a hearing Aug. 29, an attorney for the plaintiffs argued Prince had essentially committed war crimes.
At a hearing Aug. 29, attorneys representing Iraqis suing Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince argued that he is to blame for the “deaths of more than 20 Iraqis between 2005 and 2007.” The civil lawsuit was filed by families of several Iraqis allegedly killed by Blackwater guards.
Blackwater USA, now called Xe Services LLC, is a rather controversial private security firm that received lucrative contracts from the U.S. State Department. and Central Intelligence Agency.
Earlier this month, two former employees of Blackwater presented sworn statements accusing the private US security firm and its founder, Prince, of killing Iraqis for fun, smuggling weapons and deceiving the State Department.
On Friday, however, the focus was upon Prince. Speaking in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Susan L. Burke, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said:

The person responsible for these deaths is Mr. Prince. He had the intent, he provided the weapons, he provided the instructions, and they were done by his agents and they were war crimes.

In response to Burke’s assertions, Judge T.S. Ellis III expressed skepticism about the claims saying, “I don't have any doubt that you can infer malice. What you can't infer, as far as I can tell, is intent to kill these people.''
The current lawsuit is a consolidation of five earlier lawsuits.
The hearing on Friday was held in response to a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Blackwater attorneys. The attorneys, on behalf of the company, denied the allegations, saying they “go far beyond describing the harm allegedly suffered by Plaintiffs.”
Moreover, Blackwater attorneys asked the judge to “strike the affidavits from the former employees from the court record.”
Judge Ellis indicated that he would issue a ruling “promptly.”