The District of Columbia has settled the lawsuit of a protester who said he detained and handcuffed for following National Guard troops through the city while playing Darth Vader’s theme song from “Star Wars.”
The terms of agreement were not immediately disclosed, but the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents protester Sam O’Hara in the case, said in a statement press release that he received compensation. The group did not immediately respond to a request for more details.
The DC Mayor’s Office referred questions to local police and the DC Attorney General’s Office. Representatives for the Metropolitan Police Department and D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The incident occurred in September 2025, when O’Hara, a Washington, D.C. resident, was protesting President Donald Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to the city, and this, in music.
“In the Star Wars franchise, The Imperial March is the music that plays when Darth Vader or other dark forces enter the scene or succeed in their dastardly plans. It is also the soundtrack to Sam O’Hara’s protest against the deployment of the National Guard to Washington,” his lawsuit states.
“Mr. O’Hara was deeply concerned about the normalization of troops patrolling Washington, D.C. neighborhoods. Therefore, he began to protest the presence of Guard members by walking several feet behind them when he saw them in the community. Using his phone and sometimes a small speaker, he played The Imperial March as he walked, keeping the music at a volume that was audible but not shrill,” his suit states.
He recorded the encounters and posted the videos to TikTok, which have racked up millions of views. One of his targets, Sgt. Devon Beck, “was not amused by this satire,” the lawsuit states.
“Within two minutes, Sergeant Beck turned around and threatened to call the Washington, D.C. police officers to ‘deal with’ Mr. O’Hara if he persisted. Mr. O’Hara continued to record,” the filing states.
Beck heeded his warning and four Metropolitan Police officers responded and arrested and handcuffed O’Hara, according to the lawsuit.
“The law could have condoned such governmental conduct a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the suit says, referring to the opening credits of Star Wars. “But for now, the First Amendment prohibits government officials from stopping peaceful protests. »
O’Hara filed suit against Beck, the officers and the city for violating his constitutional rights.
The settlement does not end the lawsuit; O’Hara’s claims against Beck are still pending. The Justice Department argued that its actions were protected by qualified immunity and that the complaints should be dismissed.
The government also complained that O’Hara was “playing distracting music.”
“Beck could reasonably perceive this behavior as interfering with the patrol’s movements and situational awareness, because an armed patrol must attend to people nearby, maintain its ability to hear, and move without a civilian following at point-blank range,” the DOJ lawyers argued.
“Moreover, Beck and his fellow guards could have reasonably felt harassed by the plaintiff and concerned that he was following them and ignoring their requests to stop” and concerned about O’Hara’s “conduct creating a reasonable fear of imminent harm,” they added.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment. A representative for the Ohio National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the city’s settlement.
