DC protester who played Star Wars music at National Guard settles case against the government

DC protester who played Star Wars music at National Guard settles case against the government Sam O’Hara reaches $50,000 settlement with local government in First Amendment lawsuit over playing ‘The Imperial March’ - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments A protester who followed National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., playing Star Wars music has reached a settlement with the local government after a lawsuit accused police of violating his First Amendment rights by putting him in handcuffs. When President Donald Trump sent the National Guard into the streets of the nation’s capital in a so-called effort to crack down on crime last summer, concerned resident Sam O’Hara led a simple, yet consequential protest. He played “The Imperial March,” the theme music for Star Wars villain Darth Vader, on his phone or with a speaker while walking behind troops patrolling the area on several occasions last August and September. During one of the protests that O’Hara recorded on September 11, 2025, Ohio National Guard Sergeant Devon Beck, who was walking with a group of soldiers patrolling the Logan Circle neighborhood, was “not amused by this satire” and threatened to call D.C. police officers to “handle” him, according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of D.C. on behalf of O’Hara last October. When O’Hara continued to play the music, Beck contacted the Metropolitan Police Department. Officers JM Campbell, Tiffany Brown, Edward Reyes-Benigno and Alfonso Lopez Martinez “came to the scene and, in essence, did what Sgt. Beck had threatened, putting Mr. O’Hara in handcuffs and preventing him from continuing his peaceful protest,” according to the lawsuit filed against Beck, the officers and the city of D.C. O’Hara was handcuffed for 15 to 20 minutes, the lawsuit alleged. On Thursday, O’Hara notified a federal judge that a settlement was reached with the D.C. government and MPD officers. A dollar amount was not disclosed in court filings but a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by the Associated Press from D.C.’s Attorney General said the local government agreed to pay him $50,000. The settlement does not affect the part of the lawsuit against Beck, the National Guard service member, which remains ongoing. "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.,” O’Hara said in a statement Friday. “This settlement serves as a reminder that constitutional freedoms are worth defending, especially when those in power would prefer we stay quiet,” he added. The Independent has reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., which is representing Beck, and the office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb for comment. “The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,” the lawsuit read. “But in the here and now, the First Amendment bars government officials from shutting down peaceful protests, and the Fourth Amendment (along with the District’s prohibition on false arrest) bars groundless seizures,” the complaint added. A video shared on TikTok by the ACLU of D.C. in May showed O’Hara standing on a street corner with his hands behind his back, surrounded by MPD officers. “Within maybe 10 minutes, I was in handcuffs,” O’Hara said in the video. “It just felt like a whirlwind.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. filed a motion to dismiss the claims against Beck in April, arguing that O’Hara’s actions on September 11, 2025, were hindering the troops’ ability to do their job and could amount to harassment. The filing said O’Hara played “distracting music” and that “Beck could reasonably perceive that conduct as interfering with the patrol’s movement and situational awareness, because an armed patrol must attend to nearby persons, maintain the ability to hear, and move without a civilian trailing it at close range.” “Moreover, Beck and his fellow Guardsmen could have reasonably felt harassed by Plaintiff and concerned that he was following them and ignoring their requests to stop,” according to the federal government’s response. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also claimed that Beck wasn’t involved in O’Hara’s arrest, as the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. were not authorized to make such actions. “Beck did not arrest him, did not handcuff him, did not search him, and did not make the subsequent decisions that Plaintiff attributes to others,” the filing read. In a filing earlier this month, the ACLU of D.C. opposed the motion to dismiss the claims against Beck, arguing the soldier “induced” D.C. officers to “suppress Mr. O’Hara speech and unlawfully detain him.” “Beck is wrong that the MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] officers’ independent decisions in their interaction with Mr. O’Hara sever the causal chain between his call and Mr. O’Hara’s harms,” the filing read. When Trump initiated his federal takeover of D.C., he said it was to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,” despite violent crime declining in recent years. D.C. was among several Democratic-led cities to which Trump deployed National Guard troops in what he said was an attempt to curb crime and support immigration enforcement actions. But the administration quietly withdrew troops from Illinois, Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles after facing legal challenges and a Supreme Court ruling. More than 2,500 National Guard members were deployed to D.C., often picking up trash or patrolling the National Mall. Hundreds of troops remain in the area, without an end in sight. Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments