Families of two Trinidadian men killed in a U.S. missile strike near Venezuela sued the federal government, alleging the attack was unlawful and targeted civilians outside any authorized armed conflict.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Family members of two men killed in a U.S. missile strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday, accusing the Trump administration of carrying out a “manifestly unlawful” military operation that resulted in the deaths of civilians.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Boston by relatives of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, two Trinidadian nationals who were among six people killed during an Oct. 14 missile strike on a vessel near Venezuela. The suit marks the first legal challenge to one of 36 U.S. missile strikes authorized by President Donald Trump’s administration since September 2025 against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean—operations that plaintiffs say have killed more than 120 people.
According to the complaint, Joseph and Samaroo were engaged in fishing and farm work in Venezuela and were traveling back to their homes in Las Cuevas, Trinidad, when the boat they were aboard was struck. The lawsuit alleges the men were civilians and not involved in any armed hostilities at the time of the attack.
“These are lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theater, which is why we need a court of law to proclaim what is true and constrain what is lawless,” said Baher Azmy, a lawyer for the plaintiffs with the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a statement.
The lawsuit was filed by Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mother, and Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s sister. It seeks monetary damages from the U.S. government for the two deaths but does not request an injunction to halt future strikes.
Civil rights attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union brought the case under the Death on the High Seas Act, which allows family members to pursue wrongful death claims for fatalities occurring in international waters, and the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law permitting foreign nationals to sue in U.S. courts for violations of international law.
Although the suit does not seek to block further military action, it could allow a federal court to examine the legality of the Oct. 14 strike and whether it complied with international law.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has characterized the strikes, carried out under the direction of Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth, as part of a campaign against drug cartels, which it has described as armed groups. Administration officials have said the operations comply with international legal frameworks known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.
The strikes have drawn criticism from human rights organizations and scrutiny from lawmakers in both parties, noting that Congress has not authorized military action against drug cartels. Legal experts have previously argued that drug cartels do not meet the accepted international definition of armed groups under the laws of armed conflict.
The lawsuit contends that the killing of Joseph and Samaroo occurred outside any armed conflict and while the men were not engaged in hostilities against the United States. It argues the strike constituted murder, wrongful death on the high seas, and an extrajudicial killing under international law.
“If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him,” Korasingh said in a statement. “They must be held accountable.”
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