Washington, D.C. has agreed to pay $50,000 to resolve a lawsuit brought by a local resident who says police unlawfully detained him after he followed an Ohio National Guard patrol while blasting Darth Vader’s theme from “Star Wars” on his phone — an act he described as political protest.
The plaintiff, Sam O’Hara, took legal action against the district, four Metropolitan Police Department officers, and an Ohio National Guard member, saying his detention was retaliation for exercising his right to protest President Donald Trump’s expanded federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital.
A court document filed Thursday revealed that a settlement had been reached, though it did not include a dollar amount. The D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb’s office later provided The Associated Press with a copy of the full settlement agreement, which confirmed the $50,000 figure — covering both the payout and attorney’s fees and costs.
O’Hara is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia. An ACLU spokesperson said in an email Friday that the financial terms represent “a significant amount” that O’Hara “is pleased with,” while declining to publicly state the dollar figure, citing privacy concerns.
O’Hara, who works in the hospitality industry and is also an artist, agreed to drop his claims against the district and the MPD officers within three business days of receiving payment. The agreement makes clear the settlement is not an acknowledgment of any wrongdoing on the part of the district.
However, the deal does not resolve O’Hara’s ongoing claims against Ohio National Guard Sgt. Devon Beck, who has separately requested that a judge throw out the case against him.
O’Hara originally filed his lawsuit in October, alleging that police officers infringed on his First Amendment right to free expression and his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable detention and excessive force.
The incident took place on September 11, 2025, when O’Hara walked behind a group of National Guard soldiers along a public street while playing “The Imperial March” — the iconic villain theme from the “Star Wars” franchise — from his cellphone. One of the soldiers called police, who stopped O’Hara and kept him in handcuffs for between 15 and 20 minutes before letting him go without filing any charges, according to the lawsuit.
The Guard’s presence in Washington stems from an executive order President Trump signed last August declaring a crime emergency in the capital. The deployment has stirred significant tension among residents of the heavily Democratic district. Hundreds of Guard members are still stationed there nearly a year later, with no clear timeline for their withdrawal.
