A Washington, D.C., resident who drew attention to the deployment of the National Guard in the district by playing “The Imperial March” from “Star Wars” is now suing after he was detained in what he argues was a violation of his rights while protesting.
“The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” Sam O’Hara’s lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a civil complaint filed Thursday, playing on the “Star Wars” theme. “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,” they wrote.
The complaint, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., gave O’Hara’s account of his detention last month. It followed one of the times he recorded and protested the deployment by playing the theme associated with “Star Wars” villain Darth Vader, while walking behind Guard members on public streets.
The incident leading to the lawsuit arose when the 35-year-old was coming home from work on Sept. 11, and he began walking behind a group of Guard members while playing the march on his phone and recording them. He said he didn’t speak to them, touch them or interfere with their activities, and he said he played the music loudly but not at a “blaring level.”
O’Hara’s complaint said that most Guard members he encountered during his protests ignored him and that “a few smiled or laughed.” But he said that on Sept. 11, Sgt. Devon Beck of the Ohio National Guard “was not amused by this satire,” and that Beck contacted D.C. police officers, who handcuffed the plaintiff and blocked him from “continuing his peaceful protest.” He was released without charge.
O’Hara’s suit names Beck, several D.C. officers and the District of Columbia as civil defendants. He claims violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, as well as false arrest and battery. He said officers refused to loosen his tight handcuffs, which caused him pain. The defendants will have an opportunity to respond in court before a judge weighs in on how the case will proceed.
The suit comes as litigation unfolds over the Trump administration’s attempted deployments in Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago, with the last pending before the Supreme Court in a case that could be decided any moment.
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