A Washington, D.C. man is suing police, a National Guard member and the district itself, claiming his constitutional rights were violated after he was detained for trailing a National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars. Sam O'Hara, 35, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, represented by an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The suit, brought against four D.C. police officers, Ohio National Guard member Devon Beck and the District of Columbia, seeks to establish that O'Hara's detention breached his First and Fourth Amendment rights, and constituted false arrest, imprisonment and battery under D.C. law. It also requests compensatory damages.
According to the lawsuit, O'Hara was peacefully protesting the deployment of federal troops by following them while playing 'The Imperial March' from his phone or a small speaker on September 11. He had previously held Star Wars-themed protests against National Guard deployments, and troops had usually ignored him. On this occasion, however, Beck called the police after O'Hara followed four Ohio Guard members.
The lawsuit quotes Beck as saying to O'Hara: 'Hey, man, if you're going to keep following us, we can contact Metro PD and they can come handle you if that's what you want to do. Is that what you want to do?' O'Hara claims he did not respond but continued playing the song and recording the interaction. Several police cars arrived within minutes, and O'Hara was handcuffed, which he says stopped him from continuing his protest.
The Metropolitan Police Department said it does not comment on pending litigation when contacted. Speaking to the Washington Post, O'Hara said his TikToks were not intended to mock the troops, but to highlight that the orders came from an administration seeking to extend its power. The protest follows President Donald Trump's declaration of a 'crime emergency' on August 11, which federalised D.C. law enforcement and deployed National Guard troops, a move opposed by about 80 per cent of residents according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll.
