At a Glance
- Two Trinidadian families filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against U.S. government on Tuesday.
- The case centers on a military strike that killed Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo on October 14.
- The lawsuit is the first federal suit against the Trump administration for its Caribbean-Pacific boat-strikes.
- Why it matters: It challenges the legality of U.S. actions against alleged drug-smuggling vessels and may set a precedent for future cases.
Families of two Trinidadian men who were killed in a U.S. strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in October sued the U.S. government Tuesday, accusing it of wrongful death and extrajudicial killings. The lawsuit is the first of its kind to be filed against the Trump administration in federal court over its military campaign against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Lawsuit Details
The suit was filed by lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Professor Jonathan Hafetz of Seton Hall Law School and the ACLU of Massachusetts. It alleges that the Oct. 14 airstrike violated two federal statutes:
- Death on the High Seas Act – allows family members to sue over wrongful deaths that occur more than 3 nautical miles from the U.S.
- Alien Tort Statute – permits foreign nationals to sue in federal court for violations of international law.
The plaintiffs argue that the strike was an unjustified use of lethal force, describing the killings as “premeditated and intentional” and lacking any plausible legal justification.
Background of the Strike
Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, were on a boat traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad when it was struck on October 14. The lawsuit says Joseph and Samaroo “had been fishing in waters off the Venezuelan coast and working on farms in Venezuela.” They were returning to their homes in Las Cuevas in Trinidad and Tobago when their boat was hit.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump said the strike killed all six men on the boat. Trump described them as “six male narcoterrorists” and said that the boat was “affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization” and that it “was trafficking narcotics.” The strike was the administration’s fifth in a campaign that has struck three dozen boats and killed at least 125 people, according to the Defense Department, since it began in early September.
The lawsuit challenges the administration’s justification that the U.S. is in a non-international armed conflict with drug cartels. It says there is no armed conflict and that therefore the laws of war do not apply.
Family Statements
Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley, and Samaroo’s sister, Sallycar Korasingh, are suing on behalf of the two men’s surviving family members. Both families held memorial services after learning of the strike and after their relatives were never heard from again.
> “Chad was a loving and caring son who was always there for me, for his wife and children, and for our whole family. I miss him terribly. We all do,” Burnley said in a statement. “We know this lawsuit won’t bring Chad back to us, but we’re trusting God to carry us through this, and we hope that speaking out will help get us some truth and closure.”
> “Rishi used to call our family almost every day and then one day he disappeared, and we never heard from him again,” Korasingh said. “Rishi was a hardworking man who paid his debt to society and was just trying to get back on his feet again and to make a decent living in Venezuela to help provide for his family. If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him. They must be held accountable.”
Both families claim their loved ones were primary breadwinners. Joseph lived in Las Cuevas with his common-law wife and three minor children, but often traveled 20 nautical miles to Venezuela for work. He had been working there since April and had struggled to find a boat to return home after the strike campaign began.
Legal Arguments
The lawsuit argues that:
- The strike violated the Death on the High Seas Act because the deaths occurred more than 3 nautical miles from the U.S.
- The Alien Tort Statute applies because the victims were foreign nationals and the conduct violated international law.
- The U.S. did not have a valid armed-conflict justification, making the killings unlawful murders.
The plaintiffs also quote the Trinidadian government, which said it had no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities and had no evidence that they possessed illegal drugs, guns, or small arms.
Government Response
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military carried out three strikes Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against four boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor.
The White House and the Pentagon have not yet commented on the lawsuit. News Of Philadelphia asked the White House and the Pentagon for comment on the lawsuit.
Next Steps
The lawsuit is the first federal case of its kind against the Trump administration. It may prompt a review of the administration’s boat-strike policy and could influence future U.S. military operations against alleged drug vessels.
The families will seek damages for wrongful death and may pursue additional claims for extrajudicial killings. The case will be heard in federal court, and the outcome could have significant implications for U.S. foreign-policy enforcement in the Caribbean and Pacific.
Key Takeaways
- Families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo sue the U.S. government for the Oct. 14 strike that killed them.
- The suit challenges the legality of the Trump administration’s boat-strike campaign.
- The case could set a precedent for future lawsuits against U.S. military actions abroad.
- The government has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
