ACLU Sues Trump Administration Over Missile Strike Killing Chad Joseph And Rishi Samaroo

Relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. attack on boats allegedly linked to drug trafficking in Caribbean waters sued the Trump administration, filing in a federal court in Massachusetts through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

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The lawsuit alleges that on October 14, Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, were returning from Venezuela to their homes in Las Cuevas, Trinidad and Tobago when a missile struck their vessel, and it names the deaths as part of the U.S. administration’s anti-drug campaign.

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The complaint says the attacks were illegal, stating, "These premeditated and intentional murders violate the domestic law prohibiting murder and the international law prohibiting extrajudicial killings or the arbitrary or illegal deprivation of the right to life," and it also says, "they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and carried out by military officers in the chain of command."

The filing adds that since August 2025 the Pentagon has summarily destroyed dozens of vessels, and it says the United States has carried out more than 35 attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, with the latest last Friday leaving more than 110 people dead in total.

The plaintiffs bring claims under two federal laws, the High Seas Deaths Act and the Alien Tort Statute, and the suit is described as the first legal action brought against the U.S. government since the attacks began.

Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley, said, "We know this lawsuit won’t bring Chad back, but we trust in God to help us get through this, and we hope that speaking out will help us obtain some truth and find closure," while Samaroo’s sister Sallycar Korasingh said, "If the U.S. government believed that Rishi had committed any crime, it should have arrested him, charged him, and detained him, not killed him."

The elDiario.es account says the complaint was filed on Monday and ties the claims to the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute, arguing the attacks on vessels are “manifestly illegal.”

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It quotes ACLU lead attorney Brett Max Kaufman saying, "As they seek justice for the senseless killings of their loved ones, our clients bravely demand accountability for their devastating losses and oppose the administration’s assault on the rule of law."

The same article says Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Minister Sean Sobers told local media after the attack that "the government has no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities," and it adds that Baher Azmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights called the killings, "These are cold-blooded illegal killings; murders for sport and murders for show."

The lawsuit is described as filed in Massachusetts because non-U.S. citizens can file maritime lawsuits in any federal court, and it includes a quote from Jessie Rossman of the ACLU of Massachusetts saying, "It is imperative that we hold this administration accountable, for their families and for the rule of law."

Iran censured the United States for what it called the ‘extrajudicial killing’ of suspected drug traffickers, saying the move exposes the true nature of a country that has long lectured others on human rights.

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elDiario.es

In a post on his X account on Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political and Legal Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi reacted to reports that the U.S. Defense Department has been forced to investigate claims of the unlawful killing of nearly 200 people as part of operations to strike dozens of boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

Gharibabadi said the U.S. military carried out the attacks while keeping the American people unaware of any evidence or the identities of the victims, and without carrying out any arrests or trials, adding, "Firing on people at sea, without trial and without transparency, is nothing but extrajudicial killing — the very point at which the mask of human rights falls from the face of those who claim to defend it."

He argued, "Fighting drug trafficking has a legal path: investigation, arrest, evidence, trial, and due process," and he said Washington must explain how it replaced courts with missiles and law with death without trial.

The PressTV account frames the remarks as part of Gharibabadi’s broader criticism of double standards, including violations committed by the U.S. military during a joint aggression with the Israeli regime against Iran that came to a halt with a ceasefire in early April.