Blackwater (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private security services contractor |
| Founded | 1997 North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founders | Erik Prince Al Clark |
| Defunct | June 2014 |
| Fate | Merged with Triple Canopy |
| Headquarters | 12018 Sunrise Valley Drive Suite 140 Reston, Virginia, U.S.[1] 38°56′54″N 77°21′42″W / 38.9484°N 77.3618°W |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Craig Nixon and Allen Schaffer |
| Products | Law enforcement training, logistics, close quarter training, and security services |
| Services | Security management, full-service risk management consulting |
| Website | www |
Constellis, formerly Blackwater, is an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1997,[2] by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince.[3][4] It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquired by a group of private investors.[5] In 2014, Academi merged with Triple Canopy to form Constellis Holdings.[6][7][8]
Constellis and its predecessors provide contract security services[9] to the United States federal government. Since 2003, it has provided services to the Central Intelligence Agency.
In 2007, Blackwater received widespread notoriety for the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, when a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20. Four employees were convicted in the United States and were later pardoned on December 22, 2020, by President Donald Trump.[10][11]
- ^ "Academi – About Us – Contact Us". Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
- ^ "North Carolina Secretary of State Business Registration Search". Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
- ^ Gielink, Dirk; Buitenhuis, Maarten; Moelker, René (2007). "No Contractors on the Battlefield: The Dutch Military's Reluctance to Outsource". In Thomas Jäger, Gerhard Kümmel (ed.). Private Military and Security Companies: Chances, Problems, Pitfalls and Prospects. VS. p. 149. ISBN 978-3-531-14901-1.
- ^ Flintoff, Corey (September 25, 2009). "Blackwater's Prince Has GOP, Christian Group Ties". NPR. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
- ^ "Ex-Blackwater firm gets a name change, again" Archived October 2, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. December 12, 2011, The Washington Post
- ^ Brannen, Kate. "Blackwater's Descendants Are Doing Just Fine". Foreign Policy. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ Risen, James (June 30, 2014). "Before Shooting in Iraq, a Warning on Blackwater". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
- ^ "Constellis Holdings, Inc. Acquires Constellis Group, Inc" (Press release). Constellis Holdings. PR Newswire. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Charges Dismissedwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "U.S. Jury convicts Blackwater guards in 2007 killings of Iraqi civilians" Archived March 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian. October 22, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ^ "Ex-Blackwater Guards Sentenced to Prison in 2007 Killings of Iraqi Civilians" Archived June 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times. April 13, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.