The reported “double tap strike” by U.S. Navy SEALs on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on the orders of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth “seems” to be a war crime, according to Sen. Mark Kelly.
Before September’s strike, Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” on board the supposedly narco terrorist vessel, according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the operation who was speaking to The Washington Post. An initial strike disabled the boat and killed some number of individuals on board, leaving others in the water clinging to the craft for life.
Kelly was one of a handful of Democratic members of Congress, all veterans of the armed services, who released a video message urging members of the military to follow the law when faced with illegal orders from their commanders. The video set off a firestorm on the right, with Donald Trump apparently calling for the death penalty for every Democrat who participated in the video.
On Sunday, Kelly responded to the reports from CNN and The Post detailing a September 2 strike against a vessel in the Caribbean, which included never-before-reported detailed accounts of a second attack against the disabled vessel aimed at killing survivors in the water.
“Going after survivors in the water; that is clearly not lawful,” Kelly told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “If what has been reported is accurate, I’ve got serious concerns.”
In response, the Post reported, a U.S. commander overseeing the operation, following Hegseth’s order, directed a second strike on the burning craft. Two survivors of the initial strike were believed to be killed.
Asked directly by CNN if the Post’s account would constitute a war crime, the Arizona senator called on his own experience in the Gulf War, carrying out attacks against the Iraqi navy, and affirmed that a strike on survivors would cross that line.
The deaths are just a fraction of the dozens now dead as a result of the U.S.’s escalating military campaign against small boats operating off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia. The Trump administration and the president’s most ardent supporters have argued that they are carrying dangerous drugs bound for the U.S.
At least 80 are confirmed dead from the strikes. At the same time, the U.S. has built up significant military assets in the region in what many fear precedes larger ground or air operations within Venezuela itself. The Trump administration designated Nicolas Maduro, the country’s enduring president, as the leader of a drug cartel made up of top officials and military brass called “Cartel De Los Soles” earlier in 2025.
Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, added on CBS’s Face the Nation of the strike on Sunday: “This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true.”
Members of the respective committees overseeing the armed forces in the House and Senate announced plans to investigate the reports of the U.S. operation on September 2. Led by Republicans, given the GOP’s twin majorities in Congress, the military-focused committees are typically somewhat sheltered from the partisan divides that define other policy committees and powerful groups like the House Oversight Committee.
"The Committee is aware of recent news reports and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the Republican and Democratic senators leading the Armed Services Committee in the upper chamber said in a joint statement on Friday.
“The Committee has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Allies of the president continue to insist that the U.S. is not plotting a full-scale invasion of Venezuela. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, the U.S. president directed airlines and other civilians to vacate the entire airspace of Venezuela.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”, he wrote early Saturday morning.
