Since September, the Trump administration has murdered nearly 90 people in international waters.
In this time, President Trump has ordered at least 22 lethal strikes on civilian boats near Venezuela, killing 86 people in clear violation of domestic and international law.
For weeks, the Trump administration has promoted unsubstantiated, fear-mongering claims about the people being struck and killed, even though investigations show that many were simply fishermen trying to make a living for their families. The administration is reportedly relying on a secret legal memo that wrongly claims these killings are lawful and that anyone involved in the strikes would somehow be immune from prosecution for murder or other crimes, yet they refuse to make the memo public. This is an egregious abuse of power with life-or-death consequences.
That’s why we and our partners are suing the Trump administration to demand they release their legal justifications for these unlawful strikes – because the government can’t just kill whoever they’d like based on secret law. While our legal team goes to court, we’re calling on Congress to conduct urgent oversight.
Transparency can’t wait while more people are murdered by our government.
The president, vice president, and defense secretary have all indicated that they intend to continue these bombings. Yet the public – and the service members responsible for carrying out these orders – have been left without necessary information explaining or justifying these strikes.
Our lawyers are demanding answers because the public deserves to know how the Trump administration is justifying the murder of civilians – and Congress must act as well.
We’ll see the Trump administration in court.
The ACLU Team
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA