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Trinidadian Families File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Boat Strike by U.S. Military
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NYT
Relatives of two Trinidadian men the U.S. military apparently killed in a boat strike filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Tuesday, bringing the first legal challenge in an American court to President Trump’s policy of targeting vessels suspected of smuggling drugs at sea.
The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Boston by the mother of one of the men, Chad Joseph, and the sister of the other, Rishi Samaroo. It said they vanished after telling their families they were about to take a boat home from Venezuela in mid-October. Mr. Trump announced on Oct. 14 that the military had attacked such a boat and killed six people.
“These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification,” the complaint said. “Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command.”
The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, names the U.S. government as a defendant, rather than trying to hold any particular official accountable as an individual. It seeks monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Boston by the mother of one of the men, Chad Joseph, and the sister of the other, Rishi Samaroo. It said they vanished after telling their families they were about to take a boat home from Venezuela in mid-October. Mr. Trump announced on Oct. 14 that the military had attacked such a boat and killed six people.
“These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification,” the complaint said. “Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command.”
The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights, names the U.S. government as a defendant, rather than trying to hold any particular official accountable as an individual. It seeks monetary damages in an amount to be determined at trial.
The White House and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
My former ACLU colleagues have filed suit over the Venezuela boat strikes, which they (properly) characterize as “murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government.†www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
— Jameel Jaffer (@jameeljaffer.bsky.social) 2026-01-27T15:14:29.182Z
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