DC man who followed troops around playing Darth Vader theme sues over his arrest [View all]
Source: The Independent
Thursday 23 October 2025 16:27 EDT
A Washington, D.C. man is suing police, a National Guard member, and the district itself, claiming his constitutional rights were violated after being detained last month for trailing a National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader’s theme from the Star Wars franchise.
Sam O’Hara, 35, represented by an attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against four D.C. police officers, an Ohio National Guard member, and the District of Columbia itself.
“The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the suit states, quoting Star Wars. “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 claims to have been peacefully protesting the federal troops’ deployment by trailing behind them while playing “The Imperial March,” the orchestral piece associated with Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire, from his phone or small speaker,
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/washington-dc-man-sues-troops-star-wars-b2851167.html
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://www.acludc.org/app/uploads/2025/10/20251023-OHARA-COMPL-FILED.pdf
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