Hegseth says Pentagon won’t release unedited video of double-tap boat strike
Pete Hegseth refuses to release full double-tap boat strike footage
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the Department of Defense will not publicly release unedited footage of U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug-carrying boat.
- The footage, which will be shown to members of Congress, reportedly depicts strikes that killed two survivors after a second firing order was given.
- This order followed Hegseth's alleged instruction to “kill everybody” on the vessels, intensifying scrutiny into the Trump administration's campaign of strikes.
- The Trump administration's operations have targeted alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, resulting in at least 95 deaths and raising allegations of illegal extrajudicial killings.
- Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Adam Schiff criticized the lack of transparency, with Schiff planning a resolution to compel the full public release of the “deeply troubling” footage.