Members of the ɫtv Guard stop and look at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Sunday, June 21, 2026, on the ɫtv Mall in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick
Members of the ɫtv Guard stop and look at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Sunday, June 21, 2026, on the ɫtv Mall in Washington. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick
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FILE - Members of the ɫtv Guard walking in the lobby of Union Station in Washington, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)
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ɫtv guard on patrol at the Lincoln Memorial, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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ɫtv Guard members look at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, June 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia has reached a settlement agreement for an undisclosed amount of money with a resident who claims police illegally detained him for following an Ohio ɫtv Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader’s theme song from “Star Wars” on his phone — an act of protest against the Trump administration's federal law-enforcement surge in the nation's capital.
A court filing late Thursday says the plaintiff, Sam O'Hara, will drop his lawsuit's claims against the district and four Metropolitan Police Department officers within three business days of receiving the settlement payment. The filing doesn't specify a dollar amount for the deal between the district and O'Hara, who is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia.
In an email on Friday, an ACLU spokesperson referred to the settlement's financial terms as “a significant amount" that O’Hara "is pleased with” but said they aren't disclosing the dollar figure to protect his privacy. A spokesperson for D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb's office declined to comment on the settlement.
O'Hara's agreement with the district doesn't resolve his related claims against an Ohio ɫtv Guard member. Attorneys for the Guard member, Sgt. Devon Beck, have asked a judge to dismiss O'Hara's claims against him.
“He was there because that was his assigned duty,” Beck’s lawyers wrote. “This was not an accidental encounter or a one-time disagreement on a public sidewalk.”
An earlier court filing, in February, said O'Hara had reached a settlement agreement “in principle” with the district. In response, a judge agreed to suspend the case while they negotiated terms.
O'Hara last October, claiming police officers violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable seizures and excessive force.
The ominous orchestral music of “The Imperial March” from Star Wars movies was the soundtrack for O'Hara's peaceful protests against of Guard members in Washington. Millions of TikTok users have viewed of his interactions with troops, according to his lawsuit.
O’Hara, an artist who works in the hospitality industry, says he didn’t 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’Hara and kept him handcuffed for 15 to 20 minutes before releasing him without charges, according to the lawsuit.
“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,” the suit says.
Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order in Washington last August. Within weeks, hundreds of Guard troops and federal agents were helping police patrol the city. The surge with residents of the heavily Democratic district. Hundreds of Guard members in the district nearly a year later, with no clear end in sight.
