Washington, D.C., has agreed to pay $50,000 in compensation to a protester who followed National Guard troops while playing the notorious Imperial March from Star Wars on his cellphone.
According to court documents obtained by the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday, Sam O'Hara, an artist and hospitality worker, reached a settlement with Washington, D.C., in the lawsuit alleging unlawful detention and excessive force.
The incident began on September 11, 2025, when O'Hara walked behind a patrol from the Ohio National Guard and played the "Imperial March" from his phone. The lawsuit stated the act was a protest satirizing then-President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in the capital.
According to court records, after a National Guard member reported him to the police, O'Hara was stopped and detained in tight handcuffs for 15 to 20 minutes before being released without any charges.
The following month, O'Hara filed a lawsuit against Washington, D.C., four Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, and one Ohio National Guard member. The lawsuit alleged the defendants violated the First and Fourth Amendments, unlawfully restricted free speech, and used excessive force. It sought compensatory and punitive damages on grounds including false imprisonment, battery, and constitutional retaliation.
The settlement will see O'Hara receive $50,000. In a statement to the AP, O'Hara expressed satisfaction but stressed that those responsible should be individually punished, saying, "Those who violated my constitutional rights should have paid a price, such as having their wages docked. That is real accountability."
Trump had declared a "crime emergency" in the capital in August 2025 and deployed National Guard troops to the area. The increased federal presence in the predominantly Democratic city sparked criticism of overreach and escalated tensions.
