The United States government faces a landmark wrongful death lawsuit following a series of lethal military strikes targeting vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking. The legal action, initiated by bereaved families from Trinidad and Tobago, represents the first judicial challenge to the Trump administration’s controversial maritime operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters.
Filed in Massachusetts federal court, the litigation stems from an October 14 incident that claimed six lives, including those of Chad Joseph (26) and Rishi Samaroo (41). While President Trump characterized the deceased as ‘six male narcoterrorists’ transporting narcotics from Venezuela, the plaintiffs contend the victims were civilian laborers returning from fishing and agricultural work. Notably, no substantiating evidence regarding drug cartel connections or terrorist designations has been publicly disclosed by Washington.
The complaint leverages the Death on the High Seas Act and Alien Tort Statute, alleging these ‘premeditated and intentional killings’ constitute unlawful extrajudicial executions without legal justification. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Constitutional Rights, plaintiffs Lenore Burnley (Joseph’s mother) and Sallycar Korasingh (Samaroo’s sister) seek punitive damages through jury determination.
Legal director Baher Azmy condemned the operations as ‘lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theater,’ emphasizing that the suit aims to establish accountability for potential war crimes. The case follows a separate December petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by relatives of Colombian national Alejandro Carranza Medina, similarly killed in September strikes despite family assertions he was engaged in legitimate fishing activities.
This developing legal confrontation highlights escalating tensions between counter-narcotics operational protocols and international human rights standards, with implications for extraterritorial use of lethal force and governmental accountability mechanisms.