Trump administration sued over deadly missile strike off Venezuela
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- Families of two men killed in US missile strike off Venezuela sue Trump administration for wrongful death.
- Lawsuit invokes “Death on the High Seas” and Alien Tort Statute, challenging legality of military action outside armed conflict.
The Trump administration faces a federal lawsuit in the United States over the deaths of two men in a U.S. missile strike targeting a boat off the coast of Venezuela.
According to Reuters, the families of the victims, Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaro, citizens of Trinidad, filed the wrongful death suit on Tuesday in a Boston federal court. The strike, which targeted a vessel suspected of transporting drugs, killed six people on October 14, 2025.
High Seas Lawsuit
Civil rights lawyers representing the families cited the “Death on the High Seas Act”, which allows relatives to sue the US government for unlawful killings occurring outside territorial waters. They also invoked the 1789 Alien Tort Statute, which permits foreign nationals to bring claims in US courts for violations of international law.
Read more: “F**k you Ted”: Leaked audio reveals Ted Cruz’s argument with Trump over Tariffs
The complaint states that Joseph and Samaro were not involved in any hostile acts against the United States and were merely returning home to Las Cuevas, Trinidad, from work in fishing and agriculture inside Venezuela. Lawyers describe the strike as an extrajudicial killing under international law.
Bahar Azmy, an attorney at the Constitutional Rights Center, said: “These are illegal cold-blooded killings, killings for show and entertainment. We need a court of law to determine the truth and stop what is unlawful.”
Compensation Demanded
The families seek financial compensation from the US government for the deaths of the two men, rather than an injunction against future strikes. The case could, however, prompt wider judicial scrutiny of the legality of the October 14 attack.
Read more: Trump rebukes Danish PM for 45 minutes over Greenland: Report
Salycar Korasing, Samaro’s sister, said: “If the US government thought Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested and charged him, not killed him. Those responsible must be held accountable.”
The Pentagon has not yet commented on the lawsuit. The Trump administration had defended the strikes, ordered by Secretary of Defense Pete Higgsith, as part of its campaign against drug gangs, classifying the targeted groups as armed organizations and asserting compliance with international humanitarian law.
