The District of Columbia has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Sam O’Hara, a resident who was detained by police after he followed an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader’s theme from “Star Wars” on his cellphone, according to a settlement agreement released Monday.
The settlement, which includes attorney’s fees and costs, resolves claims that O’Hara’s detention was unlawful. O’Hara sued the District of Columbia, four Metropolitan Police Department officers, and an Ohio National Guard member, arguing that his act of trailing the patrol and playing Darth Vader’s theme was a protest against President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement surge in the nation’s capital.
A court filing on Thursday disclosed the settlement but did not specify any monetary terms. The $50,000 amount is included in a copy of the settlement agreement that D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb’s office provided to the Associated Press.
O’Hara is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia. In an email on Friday, an ACLU spokesperson referred to the settlement’s financial terms as “a significant amount” that O’Hara “is pleased with” but said they were not disclosing the dollar figure to protect his privacy.