Washington has settled a lawsuit with an activist who played the Imperial March from Star Wars in front of National Guard troops
Washington has reached a settlement with a viral protester arrested for playing the Star Wars soundtrack near National Guard troops during a crackdown on illegal immigration.
The case stems from an incident in September last year, when Sam O’Hara, a 35-year-old Washington resident, protested the troop deployment by filming Ohio National Guard members from a distance while playing Darth Vader’s Imperial March from his phone.
O’Hara said he chose the soundtrack as a humorous way to protest what he viewed as the militarization of Washington, comparing the guardsmen to Stormtroopers and telling the Associated Press that he felt like he was “living in a Star Wars episode or movie.”
O’Hara, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sued Washington, four Metropolitan Police Department officers, and an Ohio National Guard sergeant who called police to the scene.
The activist argued that he was not interfering with the troops when he was handcuffed by officers for 15 to 20 minutes after Ohio National Guard Sergeant Devon Beck called police to “handle” him. He was released without charges and continued his protest.
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