The District of Columbia has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a protester who was detained and handcuffed while playing the Imperial March behind National Guard troops marching through city streets. Sam O'Hara will receive compensation under the agreement, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents him in the case.
O'Hara's demonstration took place in September 2025, when he began following National Guard members deployed to Washington following President Donald Trump's order to station troops in the city. Armed with his phone and a portable speaker, O'Hara played Darth Vader's theme song at audible but not excessive volume as he walked several paces behind the uniformed servicemembers. He recorded the encounters and shared them on TikTok, where the videos accumulated millions of views.
The stunt was meant as political commentary. In the Star Wars universe, the Imperial March soundtracks the appearance of dark forces and villainous schemes, and O'Hara drew an explicit parallel to what he viewed as an ominous military presence in civilian neighborhoods. "Mr. O'Hara was deeply concerned about the normalization of troops patrolling D.C. neighborhoods," his lawsuit stated.
The situation escalated when Ohio National Guard Sergeant Devon Beck, one of the troops being followed, confronted O'Hara and threatened to have police remove him if the protest continued. When O'Hara persisted, Beck made good on the threat. Within minutes, four Metropolitan Police officers arrived, detained O'Hara, and handcuffed him.
O'Hara sued Beck, the officers who arrested him, and the District itself, arguing they violated his First Amendment rights by suppressing peaceful political expression. His lawsuit invoked Star Wars itself, quoting the franchise's famous opening crawl: "The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But in the here and now, the First Amendment bars government officials from shutting down peaceful protests."
The settlement with the city resolves one layer of the case, though O'Hara's claims against Beck remain active. Federal attorneys defending Beck have argued that his actions fall under qualified immunity and that O'Hara's conduct could reasonably be perceived as interfering with military operations. They contended that an armed patrol must maintain situational awareness and the ability to hear, and that a civilian trailing the group at close range could understandably be viewed as creating a safety concern or harassment.
Officials at the Metropolitan Police Department, the D.C. Attorney General's office, and the Ohio National Guard did not comment on the settlement terms or the underlying dispute.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "A city paying to settle a lawsuit over someone playing Darth Vader's theme behind troops is either the most absurd civil rights case ever, or a stark reminder that government overreach doesn't always announce itself loudly."
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