{"id":728564,"date":"2026-06-27T04:48:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728564\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T04:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T04:48:21","slug":"dc-settles-with-man-detained-protesting-troops-with-darth-vader-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/728564\/","title":{"rendered":"DC settles with man detained protesting troops with Darth Vader song"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The District of Columbia has reached a settlement agreement<\/a> for an undisclosed amount of money with a resident who claims police illegally detained him for following an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader\u2019s theme song from \u201cStar Wars\u201d on his phone \u2014 an act of protest<\/a> against the Trump administration\u2019s federal law-enforcement surge in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

A court filing late Thursday says the plaintiff, Sam O\u2019Hara, will drop his lawsuit\u2019s claims against the district and four Metropolitan Police Department officers within three business days of receiving the settlement payment. The filing doesn\u2019t specify a dollar amount for the deal between the district and O\u2019Hara, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n

In an email on Friday, an ACLU spokesperson referred to the settlement\u2019s financial terms as \u201ca significant amount\u201d that O\u2019Hara \u201cis pleased with\u201d but said they aren\u2019t disclosing the dollar figure to protect his privacy. A spokesperson for D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb\u2019s office declined to comment on the settlement.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hara\u2019s agreement with the district doesn\u2019t resolve his related claims against an Ohio National Guard member. Attorneys for the Guard member, Sgt. Devon Beck, has asked a judge to dismiss O\u2019Hara\u2019s claims against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was there because that was his assigned duty,\u201d Beck\u2019s lawyers wrote. \u201cThis was not an accidental encounter or a one-time disagreement on a public sidewalk.\u201d<\/p>\n

An earlier court filing, in February, said O\u2019Hara had reached a settlement agreement \u201cin principle\u201d with the district. In response, a judge agreed to suspend the case while they negotiated terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government\u2019s efforts to silence me ultimately backfired and brought more attention to the unjust deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C.,\u201d O\u2019Hara said in a statement. \u201cThis settlement serves as a reminder that constitutional freedoms are worth defending, especially when those in power would prefer we stay quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hara sued the district<\/a> last October, claiming police officers violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures and excessive force.<\/p>\n

The ominous orchestral music of \u201cThe Imperial March\u201d from the Star Wars movies was the soundtrack for O\u2019Hara\u2019s peaceful protests against President Donald Trump\u2019s ongoing deployment<\/a> of Guard members in Washington. Millions of TikTok users have viewed O\u2019Hara\u2019s videos<\/a> of his interactions with troops, according to his lawsuit.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Hara, an artist who works in the hospitality industry, says he didn\u2019t interfere with the Guard troops during their Sept. 11, 2025, encounter on a public street. One of the troops summoned Metropolitan Police Department officers, who stopped O\u2019Hara and kept him handcuffed for 15 to 20 minutes before releasing him without charges, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n

Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency<\/a> in Washington last August. Within weeks, hundreds of Guard troops and federal agents were helping police patrol the city. The surge inflamed tensions<\/a> with residents of the heavily Democratic district. Hundreds of Guard members remain deployed<\/a> in the district nearly a year later, with no clear end in sight.<\/p>\n