The families of two Trinidadian men who were killed by a U.S. missile strike are suing the Trump administration, accusing the government of causing their death unlawfully in what officials claim was an attempt to prevent drug trafficking.
In October, Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, were returning from Venezuela to their homes in Trinidad and Tobago when a missile struck their boat, killing them and four others. Since the U.S. military campaign hunting alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean began last year, attacking small boats, an estimated 125 people have been killed.
The suit, filed in Massachusetts U.S. District Court by Joseph’s mother and Samaroo’s sister, on behalf of the families, accuses the government of violating federal statutes that protect human rights, including the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Act, according to the court complaint. Joseph was from Las Cuevas, a small fishing community on the northern coast of Trinidad, about 20 nautical miles from Venezuela.
He would often stay in Venezuela for weeks or months at a time while he worked as a fisherman and farmer in the country. While away from home, Joseph was known to call his wife and children daily. He also regularly called his family and would hold group Whatsapp calls with his mother and wife.
“We know this lawsuit won’t bring Chad back to us, but we’re trusting God to carry us through this, and we hope that speaking out will help get us some truth and closure,” said Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mother. Samaroo was a resident of Las Cuevas and the main breadwinner in his family until 2009. He was imprisoned from 2009 to 2024 on a reported homicide charge and,on release, moved to Las Cuevas, where he started work as a fisherman.
Samaroo took a photo of himself wearing a lifejacket and sent it to his sister, telling her he would see her in a few days. That was the last time anyone in the family heard from him.
“Rishi was a hardworking man who paid [his] debt to society and was just trying to get back on his feet again and to make a decent living in Venezuela to help provide for his family,” said Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s sister. “If the U.S. government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him. They must be held accountable.”
Since the men posed no immediate threat to the United States and were not members of any organized armed groups, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is aiding the families, sees these killings as unlawful. “It is absurd and dangerous for any state to just unilaterally proclaim that a ‘war’ exists in order to deploy lethal military force,” said Baher Azmy, the CCR’s legal director, in a press statement.
“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.”
The U.S. government has provided little, if any, evidence that the fishing boats it has attacked in the Caribbean “Operation Southern Spear” maneuvers are part of “narco-terrorist” operations shipping drugs into the United States, but it does claim that the strikes are within their rights.
“Our operations in the Southcom region are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the Law of Armed Conflict. These actions have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told reporters in December.