Trump Administration Faces First Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Drug Boat Strikes

WASHINGTON – Families of two Trinidadian ⁣men killed in a U.S. military strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat⁤ in October are suing the U.S. government, alleging wrongful death and extrajudicial killings.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, marks⁢ the first legal challenge against the Trump management’s military campaign targeting alleged drug‍ vessels in the caribbean Sea ⁤and the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, where reportedly killed on october 14th⁢ while traveling by boat from Venezuela to Trinidad, according to the lawsuit. Their families state⁢ Joseph and Samaroo were “fishing in waters off the Venezuelan⁣ coast and working on farms in Venezuela” and were returning home to Las Cuevas in Trinidad and tobago when the boat was‍ struck.

Defense⁤ Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump claimed the strike killed⁢ all six men aboard, labeling them “narcoterrorists” and alleging the boat was linked to a Designated Terrorist Organization and involved in drug trafficking. Trump detailed the claim on Truth Social. The⁤ Defense Department reports the administration has conducted strikes on three ⁣dozen boats,resulting in at least 125 deaths,as the campaign began in early September.

The White House and⁤ the Pentagon have been contacted for comment on the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit,⁣ the families were not informed of their loved ones’ deaths, but ⁢held memorial services after the October 14th strike and after Joseph and Samaroo went missing.

Joseph’s mother and Samaroo’s sister are pursuing the case⁣ on behalf of the⁢ surviving family members, with legal portrayal from the American ⁣Civil Liberties Union, the ⁢Center for Constitutional Rights, Seton Hall Law School professor Jonathan⁢ Hafetz, and ‍the ACLU of Massachusetts.

The lawsuit argues the October 14th airstrike ⁣violated the Death on the High Seas Act and other federal statutes.