The killing of the 11 people onboard the ship from Venezuela suspected of transporting illegal drugs signals a move on the part of the Trump administration toward “outlawry,” according to CERL Advisory Council Member Benjamin Farley in an opinion at Foreign Policy. In painting drug smugglers as terrorists and using dubious legal justifications, the president has set a dangerous precedent of putting individuals beyond the protection of the law. 

Benajamin Farley is a nonresident senior fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Human Rights Center. He is also a member of CERL’s Advisory Council.  

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.