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First wrongful death lawsuit filed against Trump administration over drug boat strikes

  • On Jan. 27, 2026, the families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo filed a wrongful-death suit in Massachusetts over the October 14 missile strike that killed six, including the two Trinidadian men.
  • The Oct. 14 strike targeted a boat traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad and killed all six aboard, with the Trump administration framing it as part of a campaign since early September that hit three dozen boats and killed at least 125 people.
  • The lawsuit contends the killings occurred outside armed conflict and invokes the Death on the High Seas Act and Alien Tort Statute, noting the Trinidadian government had no information linking the victims to illegal activities.
  • The case could give courts a first look at the strikes' legal justification, as the lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union seeks only damages and the U.S. Defense Department declined to comment.
  • Family members urged accountability; Baher Azmy called the killings `lawless,' and Sallycar Korasingh said, `If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him.
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In connection with the US attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, the families of two victims have sued President Trump's government.

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Caraota Digital broke the news in on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
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