The Force is strong with Sam O’Hara. The District of Columbia agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of money to O’Hara, a district resident who says he was illegally detained for following a group of Ohio National Guardsmen and playing the “Imperial March” from “Star Wars.”
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, which is backing O’Hara’s lawsuit over his detention, said on Friday that the District of Columbia agreed to pay him to settle the case. The terms were not immediately disclosed, and the settlement does not cover part of the lawsuit directed towards a National Guard noncommissioned officer.
O’Hara filed his lawsuit in October, suing Sgt. Devon Beck, several MPD officers and the District of Columbia. The lawsuit argues that his First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights were violated on Sept. 11, 2025. O’Hara was following a patrol and playing the “Imperial March,” as he had several times prior with his phone or a speaker, when a sergeant warned him they would get the Metropolitan Police Department if he did not stop.
“Hey man, if you’re going to keep following us, we can contact Metro PD and they can come handle you if that’s what you want to do. Is that what you want to do?” the sergeant said, per the lawsuit.
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Police officers were brought in and O’Hara was handcuffed and detained for 15-20 minutes. He was not charged and was released.
“The government’s efforts to silence me ultimately backfired and brought more attention to the unjust deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C.,” said Sam O’Hara, plaintiff in the case. “This settlement serves as a reminder that constitutional freedoms are worth defending, especially when those in power would prefer we stay quiet.”
Since the deployment of National Guard troops to the capital in August, uniformed patrols have become a regular sight in D.C., and so have protests against the military’s presence. Those have ranged from conventional demonstrations to mocking social media posts or, in O’Hara’s case, providing them with a soundtrack best known for following Darth Vader and a cadre of Stormtroopers.
Troops deployed as part of Joint Task Force–District of Columbia operate under Title 32 orders and cannot make arrests, but can briefly detain people while police are notified and brought in. The military was brought in last year to support law enforcement, over claims of rampant crime in Washington, D.C. A report in May from the Niskanen Center found that the presence of National Guard troops had not impacted violent crime rates.
Currently the National Guard is expected to remain in D.C. through the year. More than 4,000 National Guard troops are assigned to JTF-DC, More than 4,500 National Guard troops from several states. That is roughly double where it had been earlier this year, as the military surges troops into the capital ahead of the 4th of July.
