“The man was handcuffed and detained for 15-20 minutes.”, — write: www.unian.ua
The man was handcuffed and detained for 15-20 minutes.
The police have not yet reacted to this incident / photo pexels.comA Washington man has filed a lawsuit saying he was arrested for playing a Darth Vader song from “Star Wars” during a protest against National Guard patrols in the city amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime. This is reported by Axios.
The American Civil Liberties Union is said to have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sam O’Hara against four Metropolitan Police officers and a member of the Ohio National Guard, seeking damages for alleged First and Fourth Amendment violations, namely unlawful arrest/imprisonment and battery.
“After Trump dispatched the National Guard from Washington and other US states to fight crime, O’Hara began protesting it by playing the song “Imperial March” from “The Empire Strikes Back,” the second film in the original Star Wars trilogy, while filming National Guard troops on the streets of the city, Axios recalled.
Most National Guardsmen “ignored” O’Hara and “some smiled or laughed” at his actions, and he uploaded the videos to TikTok, where they were viewed “millions” of times, according to the lawsuit.
However, an Ohio Guardsman “wasn’t happy with this satire” and “threatened to call the police from Washington to ‘deal with’ the protester if he didn’t stop” when the incident happened on 9/11.
The complaint alleges that O’Hara used his phone “and sometimes a small speaker.” The man played the Imperial March as he walked, keeping the music at a volume that was audible but not loud.
According to the American’s lawyers, Washington police officers arrived and “firmly” handcuffed O’Hara and detained him for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, D.C. police provided Axios with a police report on the incident, which states that the security guard “stopped” officers and that O’Hara was “moved on without further incident.”
“The law could have tolerated this kind of government behavior a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. But here and now, the First Amendment prohibits government officials from stopping peaceful protests, and the Fourth Amendment (along with the district’s ban on illegal arrests) prohibits warrantless detention,” the lawyers said in the lawsuit.
Protests in the USA – the latest newsWe will remind, on October 18, mass protests against Trump’s policy took place in the USA. According to the organizers of the rallies, the rule of the US president is becoming increasingly militarized and authoritarian.
During the protests, people held the slogans “No to kings”, “People instead of billionaires”. They also chanted slogans into megaphones: “This is what democracy looks like”, “No hatred, no fear – immigrants are welcome here.”
At the same time, against the background of protests in the USA, Trump appeared in the image of a king, and Vance supported the “trend”. In particular, on the Truth Social social network, Trump posted a video in which he flies in a fighter jet wearing a crown and throws mud at protesters opposing his policies. Such a publication caused a wave of criticism in the media and among opposition politicians.
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