U.S. National Guard soldiers walk across a street in downtown Washington, D.C. near the White House. Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa (Photo by Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON - Sam O’Hara, a Washington, D.C. resident who protested National Guard troops by playing the Star Wars "Imperial March," has filed a lawsuit alleging police and a National Guard member violated his constitutional rights by detaining him.

According to the ACLU, O'Hara sued an Ohio National Guard member and four Metropolitan Police Department officers for violating his constitutional rights and D.C. law.

The American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia (ACLU-D.C.) filed the lawsuit on O’Hara’s behalf.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area, according to the Associated Press. In the past, a federal judge said she found no substantial evidence to deploy the National Guard in Illinois.

Following President Donald Trump’s August 11 deployment of D.C. National Guard members—and the subsequent arrival of additional troops from several states, O’Hara began protesting their presence in his neighborhood.

RELATED: DC suing federal government to have National Guard leave the city

The ACLU said his form of protest was both pointed and playful: walking behind Guard members while playing Star Wars’ "The Imperial March" on his phone and recording the encounters.

He later posted the videos on TikTok, where they quickly went viral and drew millions of views.

On September 11, 2025, O’Hara encountered Ohio National Guard Sgt. Beck and several other Guard members near 14th and Q Streets NW.