Lawsuit Filed Against U.S. Over Boat Strike That Killed Two Trinidadians, First of Its Kind
Family members of two Trinidadian men killed last October in a U.S. missile strike on a boat near Venezuela have sued the United States government, arguing the killings were unlawful and lacked any legal justification.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, accuses the Trump administration of wrongful death and extrajudicial killing in attacks that critics say have killed more than 120 people in maritime strikes since September 2025.
According to court filings and civil rights groups representing the families, 26-year-old Chad Joseph and 41-year-old Rishi Samaroo were returning to their homes in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago when their boat was hit by a U.S. missile on Oct. 14. The families say neither man was involved in drug trafficking and that the strike was part of a broader campaign against alleged cartels that has lacked transparency and legal grounding.
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The lawsuit, backed by the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and others, invokes the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute, arguing that attacks on civilian vessels without congressional authorization or a valid armed conflict violate U.S. and international law.
“These are lawless killings in cold blood… which is why we need a court of law to proclaim what is true and constrain what is lawless,” said a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
If successful, the case could force the judiciary to evaluate the administration’s legal rationale for maritime strikes that have drawn criticism from legal experts, foreign governments and human rights organizations.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and aims to hold U.S. officials accountable, while also compelling greater transparency on the legal basis for the strikes.
Next steps include initial court responses from the U.S. government and potential briefing schedules that could shape whether the case moves toward discovery or dismissal. What happens next could test the legal limits of executive military authority in international waters.
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