Yesterday the Trump administration released a new video of the U.S. military engaging a vessel off the coast of Venezuela. It wasn’t footage of the September 2 killing of two shipwrecked survivors of a missile attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat.1 It was of a new military action in support of U.S. law enforcement agencies: seizing an oil tanker involved in illicit activities. This action was apparently taken pursuant to a warrant issued by a federal judge, as the ship had been put under sanctions by the Treasury Department in 2022 for illegal activities linked to the smuggling of Iranian oil.

Many questions remain about the operation and its justification, and the government should provide clear answers to them. Still, here’s what we’ve been reminded of by yesterday’s action: The U.S. government has the ability to seize boats, sailors, and cargo without killing anyone. The Coast Guard does this routinely and has for years. The military is able to coordinate with and support law enforcement in such efforts. Steps can be taken ahead of time to ensure such efforts are legal.

But the Trump administration has chosen to do none of these things as, over the past three months, it has conducted strikes against at least 22 vessels, killing more than 80 helpless civilians. The administration has provided no evidence to support its claims about the boats and those aboard, and in fact, the original rationale that they were smuggling fentanyl to the United States seems to have been abandoned.

What’s more, the administration has chosen in one case to kill shipwrecked survivors and to try to cover up the fact there were such survivors, and in another instance to return survivors to their home countries rather than risking legal proceedings in the United States that might force the administration to provide a justification for its actions

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