DC Pays Protester Sam O’Hara $50,000 Over 2025 National Guard Detention
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
DC Pays Protester Sam O’Hara $50,000 Over 2025 National Guard Detention
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 2
Summary
$50,000 will go to Sam O’Hara under a D.C. settlement after he said police unlawfully detained him and used excessive force during a September 2025 protest.
O’Hara said he followed an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing the “Imperial March” on his phone in satire of President Donald Trump’s troop deployment, and was then handcuffed tightly for 15 to 20 minutes before release without charges.
His lawsuit, filed the next month against Washington, four Metropolitan Police officers and an Ohio National Guard member, alleged First and Fourth Amendment violations, false imprisonment, battery and retaliation.
The case grew out of Trump’s August 2025 National Guard deployment to Washington after declaring a crime emergency, a move that intensified local criticism of federal overreach.