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First wrongful death lawsuit filed against Trump administration over drug boat strikes
Families allege the U.S. strikes killed fishermen with no drug ties, violating international law and causing at least 125 deaths since September, according to the Defense Department.
- 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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Jyllands-PostenReposted by 
Politiken
PolitikenFamily members of two men killed in a US missile strike on a boat near Venezuela in October have sued US President Donald Trump's administration. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday...
·Aarhus, Denmark
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For months, the U.S. military in the Caribbean and Pacific has sunk alleged smuggler boats. In a first lawsuit, it is now said that two of the killed were fishermen.
·Germany
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Trump administration sued over U.S. boat strike involving Trinidadian nationals
Family members of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing it of wrongful death and extrajudicial killings.
·Beijing, China
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Two Families in Trinidad and Tobago Sue the United States for Family Deaths in Narco-Lanches Attacks
Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo died in the bombing of the boat in which they returned to their homes from Venezuela
·Spain
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources165
Leaning Left40Leaning Right19Center72Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Center
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources are Center
55% Center
L 31%
C 55%
14%
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