> shooting the boaters

Straw man [1]. The Coast Guard would be expected to deter, ticket and, in the most extreme circumstances, disable craft.

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

> the "deadly gas" was released during that time

MMH is not vented on landing. When it’s released, it’s because of a mistake. That’s why the approaching crew take the precautions they do, and don a gas mask when toying with the craft.

Nothing bad happened to these boaters. But they were downwind from a substance which, had it leaked, would have put every one of them in the hospital and taken decades off their lives.

I was listening to the feed. They clearly discussed the dropping concentrations of both MMH (although I think they called it "MMT"?) and NTO. If they weren't just staging an elaborate ruse, then those substances were going somewhere. At at least one point they asked the crew if they wanted to exit immediately or wait. The crew replied they were happy to "hang out" a bit longer.

Even though you're flip-flopping (in the same paragraph) about whether there was a dangerous condition, you do seem to concede that shooting people is not the way to rescue them. So, you're ahead of most USA national security experts.

The gas being discussed appears to have been remennants from the use of the thrusters on orbit or something. They were very explicit that there was not a leak.

Hanging out a bit longer meant staying inside the capsule longer instead of seeing a doctor sooner to avoid exposing themselves and more of the crew to those fumes. They were at 2.5ppm if I recall the radio chatter correctly.