Families of killed men file first U.S. federal lawsuit over drug boat strikes

"Relatives of two Trinidadian men killed in an air strike last October are suing the U.S. government for wrongful death and for carrying out extrajudicial killings. The case, filed in Massachusetts, is the first lawsuit over the strikes to land in a U.S. federal court since the Trump administration launched a campaign to target vessels off the coast of Venezuela. The American government has carried out three dozen such strikes since September, killing more than 100 people. Among them are Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, who relatives say died in what President Trump described as "a lethal kinetic strike" on Oct. 14, 2025."

""This is killing for sport, it's killing for theater and it's utterly lawless," said Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. "We need a court of law to rein in this administration and provide some accountability to the families." The White House and Pentagon justify the strikes as part of a broader push to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. But the new lawsuit described Joseph and Samaroo as fishermen doing farm work in Venezuela, with no ties to the drug trade. Court papers said they were headed home to family members when the strike occurred and now are presumed dead."

"Neither man "presented a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury to the United States or anyone at all, and means other than lethal force could have reasonably been employed to neutralize any lesser threat," according to the lawsuit. Lenore Burnley, the mother of Chad Joseph, and Sallycar Korasingh, the sister of Rishi Samaroo, are the plaintiffs in the case. Their court papers allege violations of the Death on the High Seas Act, a 1920 law that makes the U.S. government liable if its agents engage in negligence that results in wrongful death"

Two Trinidadian relatives have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Massachusetts alleging U.S. extrajudicial killings during an air strike in October 2025. The lawsuit targets strikes that the U.S. has carried out against vessels off Venezuela, part of a campaign since September that reportedly killed over 100 people. The suit names two victims, Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, whom relatives describe as fishermen with no ties to the drug trade and who were reportedly traveling home when struck. Plaintiffs allege violations of the Death on the High Seas Act and seek accountability in federal court.

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