Overview
- O’Hara, represented by the ACLU of D.C., filed a federal suit naming Ohio National Guard Sgt. Devon Beck, four MPD officers, and the District of Columbia.
- He alleges MPD officers handcuffed and detained him for 15–20 minutes on Sept. 11 after Beck called police as he followed troops playing the Star Wars theme.
- The complaint claims violations of free speech and unreasonable seizure protections along with false arrest, false imprisonment, and battery, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
- An MPD incident report shared with outlets states O’Hara was “sent on way without further incident,” while police and the Guard declined substantive comment citing pending litigation.
- The filing notes he had posted prior similar protests viewed millions of times on TikTok and situates the encounter within Trump’s National Guard deployment to D.C., where Guard members were not authorized to make arrests.