DC man sues after being detained for playing 'Darth Vader's Theme' while following National Guard around

Attorneys for Sam O'Hara said law enforcement violated his constitutional rights.

WASHINGTON — A Washington resident filed a lawsuit Thursday after he was handcuffed and briefly detained last month for protesting members of the National Guard patrolling D.C. neighborhoods by playing “The Imperial March” from the "Star Wars" franchise.

In a suit filed in federal court, attorneys for Sam O’Hara, 35, of Washington, said he would regularly protest the National Guard’s presence by walking several feet behind them and playing the march also known as "Darth Vader's Theme," from "The Empire Strikes Back," the second film in the "Star Wars" series, when he saw them in the community.

“Using his phone and sometimes a small speaker, he played The Imperial March as he walked, keeping the music at a volume that was audible but not blaring," O’Hara’s attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union said in the lawsuit. "Mr. O’Hara recorded the encounters and posted the videos on his TikTok account, where millions of people have viewed them.”

President Donald Trump deployed members of the National Guard to Washington in August in an effort to combat the city’s crime. He has also ordered the deployment of National Guards troops to Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and Chicago — though not without legal challenges.

Appeals court rules Trump administration can deploy National Guard troops to Portland02:23O'Hara's attorneys said in the lawsuit that on Sept. 11, a member of the Ohio National Guard turned around while their client was playing music and recording them and threatened to call the Metropolitan Police Department. The guard member followed through on the threat minutes later, according to the suit.