Survivors of Sept. 2 boat strike were waving before second attack, sources say
Two people who survived an early September U.S. attack on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean were saluting overhead before being killed in a now-controversial second strike, according to two sources familiar with a video that has been released. shown to lawmakers this week.
One of the sources said the action could be interpreted as a cry for help from survivors or an attempt to repel another strike.
The additional details were first reported by The New York Times.
The September 2 operation was the first more than 20 attacks on suspected drug-carrying ships by the Trump administration in recent months — a campaign that officials say is necessary to stem drug trafficking but that critics say is legally unjustified. More than 80 people were killed in the strikes, including 11 people on September 2, the army said.
The operation has since been subject to further review report last week that the US military carried out another strike on the ship, killing two people who survived the initial attack. Some Democrats and legal experts say a strike aimed at killing shipwreck survivors could constitute a war crime. Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary confirmed there was a second strike, but he argued that it was legal and justified to “ensure the destruction of the boat.”
Members of Congress watched video of the strikes – including the one that killed the two survivors – for closed-door testimony Thursday with the operation’s commander, Admiral Mitch Bradley, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine.
But lawmakers offered very different interpretations of the video after the hearing.
Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut told reporters that the survivors appeared to be “clearly in distress, with no means of transportation,” calling it “one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen since I’ve been in public service.” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said the survivors were “trying to overturn a boat loaded with drugs bound for the United States so they could stay in the fight,” concluding that the four Sept. 2 strikes were “entirely lawful and necessary.”
Several lawmakers said Bradley testified that there was no order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to kill everyone on board.
President Trump said Wednesday he would support post a video public strikes. When asked by a reporter if he would support killing the survivors, the president replied: “No, I support the decision to demolish the boats.”
