John,

If Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered to “kill everybody,” it is either a war crime—or murder. 

According to reporting by the Washington Post, Hegseth gave a verbal order to kill everyone aboard suspected drug smuggling boats, even after they had been shipwrecked by an initial U.S. strike. This violates what is called a “prohibition on No Quarter” in the law of war.

Secretary Hegseth (who so proudly renamed the Department of Defense the Department of “War”) should be familiar with laws of war and U.S. law.

If this report is true, there is no excuse for what happened. And with the walls closing in on him, even Trump is now distancing himself:

I have hunted down far-right murderers and war criminals. As a human rights attorney, I helped find and bring justice to the man responsible for murdering Chilean folk singer Victor Jara, who was killed for speaking out against the fascist Pinochet regime. 

While working at the Pentagon, I fought to end the practice of using testimony gathered from torture in court proceedings. 

If true, this order to “kill everybody” is similarly heinous, illegal, and immoral. 

I am fighting to hold MAGA accountable for exactly this kind of corruption and lawlessness. We need more Democrats with experience and backbone standing up for human rights and fighting fascism.

This is why I am running for Congress. We need leaders who know how to fight and win against MAGA’s lawlessness. Will you support my campaign and help send a human rights lawyer to Congress to bring justice to the out of control Trump Administration?

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Gratefully,

Christian Urrutia

Democrat for NH-01

*The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the official positions of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army, or the National Guard. 

Christian Urrutia is a member of the Army National Guard. Use of his military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. 

Mail checks to:

Urrutia for New Hampshire

PO Box 4521

Manchester, NH 

03108