A Washington DC resident who was arrested last month for following a national guard patrol while playing Darth Vader's theme from Star Wars has filed a lawsuit alleging his constitutional rights were violated.
Sam O'Hara, represented by an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, filed the complaint against four local police officers, a member of the Ohio national guard and the District of Columbia. O'Hara was protesting the Trump administration's deployment of national guard troops by walking behind them and playing The Imperial March.
Before his detention, national guard member Devon Beck reportedly said: '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?' Beck then called police, who handcuffed O'Hara, preventing him from continuing his peaceful protest, according to the lawsuit.
The suit states, quoting Star Wars: 'The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But in the here and now, the First Amendment bars government officials from shutting down peaceful protests, and the Fourth Amendment (along with the District's prohibition on false arrest) bars groundless seizures.'
O'Hara is seeking a ruling that the actions violated his first and fourth amendment rights and constituted false arrest, false imprisonment and battery under DC law, as well as compensatory damages.
