‘This is murder’: Hegseth could face prosecution for alleged order to ‘kill everyone’ on boat in Caribbean
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could face criminal liability for a strike on a boat in the Caribbean in September, legal experts have told TIME, as lawmakers announced a rare bipartisan investigation of the incident in which 11 people were allegedly killed in two separate strikes.
The September 2 strikes, among the first in the Trump Administration’s months-long bombing campaign against what it claims are drug-trafficking boats operating in the Caribbean, were carried out by SEAL Team 6 at the orders of Hegseth, according to a Washington Post investigation.
“The order was to kill everybody,” a person with direct knowledge of the operation reportedly told the Post, adding that the order was given verbally. In an effort to comply with that order, the commanding officer of the operation directed a second strike targeting two survivors of an initial attack, who were “clinging to the smoldering wreck,” according to the Post.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Admiral Frank M. Bradley, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, had acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second strike after the first strike left survivors.
Speaking to reporters in the press briefing room, Leavitt confirmed that Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct the strikes.
“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was totally destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,” Leavitt said.
But several experts in international law interviewed by TIME said the events as described in the Post report, if accurate, constitute “murder” and a “war crime” for which Hegseth could be held legally culpable.
“It is absolutely unlawful to order that there will be no survivors,” Rebecca Ingber, professor of law at Cardozo Law School and an expert in international law, tells TIME. “There is no actual armed conflict here, so this is murder.” [Continue reading…]