Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a directive to kill all 11 people aboard a Caribbean boat suspected of ferrying drugs, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the September operation.
The vessel was hit off the Trinidad coast, leaving only two survivors in the wreckage. It was then that the Special Operations commander ordered a second strike, according to the report, and both men were blown up.
“The order was to kill everybody,” one of the sources said.
The commander overseeing allegedly claimed the two survivors were legitimate targets because they could call on other traffickers to collect them and the cargo.
A video released by US President Donald Trump later in the day did not show a second strike.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell denied the report, claiming that the “entire narrative is completely false.”
“Ongoing operations to dismantle narcoterrorism and to protect the Homeland from deadly drugs have been a resounding success,” he said.
'Americans will be prosecuted for this', expert says
A Joint Special Operations Command report claimed the double-tap strike was designed to sink hazardous material to protect other ships, according to a source who had seen the report. Two congressional aides told the Washington Post they were given the same explanation.
“The idea that wreckage from one small boat in a vast ocean is a hazard to marine traffic is patently absurd, and killing survivors is blatantly illegal,” Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine Corps veteran who received a classified briefing from Pentagon officials, said of another series of strikes in October.
“Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”
The new reports that Hegseth ordered the deaths of all 11 aboard the vessel added new weight to the accusations by US and international experts that the Pentagon’s strikes are not legal.
If proven unlawful, those directly involved in the action may be held culpable.
As the men posed no immediate threat to the US, and as there is no legitimate war between the two sides, former military lawyer Todd Huntley told the Washington Post the double strike “amounts to murder.”
Even if the US is at war with drug traffickers, as it has declared, “[it] would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime,” said Huntley.
After the September strikes, protocols reportedly changed to see survivors rescued and repatriated, according to the sources.
Hegseth said on Wednesday that the United States is aiming to allow further deployments of troops and aircraft to tackle drug trafficking.
FBI probes congressional Democrats who warned military about illegal orders
The FBI has requested interviews with six Democratic members of the US Congress who, in a video message, told members of the military they can legally refuse to carry out unlawful orders, a Justice Department official told Reuters on Tuesday.
The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall Senator Mark Kelly, a Navy veteran and one of the six lawmakers, to active duty, potentially to face military charges over what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth described on social media as "seditious" acts.
Trump, who critics have said has sought to harness the power of the government to try to stifle dissent, accused the six Democrats of sedition and said in a social media post that the crime is punishable by death.
The Justice Department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the FBI interviews with the lawmakers were to determine "if there's any wrongdoing, and then go from there." The FBI is headed by Trump appointee Kash Patel.
In a memo made public on Tuesday, Hegseth referred Kelly to the secretary of the navy for "potentially unlawful comments" made in the video last week. Hegseth, in the memo, said he wanted a brief on the outcome of the review by December 10.
In statements on Tuesday, the Democrats described the FBI move as an effort by the Trump administration to intimidate them into silence.
"The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place," US Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a former CIA officer and one of the six Democrats, said on X. "This is not the America I know, and I'm not going to let this next step from the FBI stop me from speaking up for my country, and our Constitution."
The lawmakers have said their video statements accurately reflected US law. American troops swear an oath to the US Constitution, not to the president, and, under military rules, must follow "any lawful general order or regulation."
The other Democrats who appeared in the video released last week include US Representatives Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, and Chrissy Houlahan, all military veterans.
The four House Democrats in a joint statement accused Trump of using the FBI as a tool to intimidate members of Congress and vowed that they would not be silenced. Kelly did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Democrats express concerns over Venezuela strikes
The video did not refer to any specific illegal order, but many Democrats have expressed concerns - echoed privately by some US military commanders - that the Trump administration is violating the law by ordering strikes on vessels purportedly carrying suspected drug traffickers in Latin American waters. The Pentagon has called the strikes justified because drug smugglers are considered terrorists.
Democrats have also questioned the legality of Trump's use of military forces in American cities.
The probe was reported earlier by Fox News.
Trump's administration has shattered democratic norms by using law enforcement to pursue his perceived enemies. The Justice Department in recent months brought criminal charges against three prominent critics of the president, though a judge on Monday dismissed two of those cases.
There is no charge of sedition under US law for civilians, though the charge of "seditious conspiracy" carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.
For troops, the Uniform Code of Military Justice includes a section on sedition, with possible penalties including death.