Families Sue U.S. Over Oct. 14 Missile Strike
A 23-page complaint filed Jan. 27, 2026 says a U.S. missile strike on Oct. 14, 2025 unlawfully killed Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo.
Overview
Lenore Burnley and Sallycar Korasingh filed a 23-page wrongful-death complaint on Jan. 27, 2026 in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging a U.S. missile strike on Oct. 14, 2025 killed Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, according to court documents.
The suit is the first legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s policy authorizing strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels and invokes the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute, plaintiffs' lawyers said in filings.
President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Oct. 14 announcing a “lethal kinetic strike” and sharing a 33-second surveillance video, while the Pentagon declined to comment on ongoing litigation, according to the post and Pentagon statements.
The Defense Department said the campaign has included at least 36 strikes since Sept. 2 that have killed at least 126 people, while compiled counts cited in court filings put immediate deaths at 116, according to Defense Department statements and court documents.
The plaintiffs seek monetary damages and a judicial finding that the killings were unlawful, and attorneys said the case could force courts to review the administration’s legal justification as the Justice Department has not immediately responded to requests for comment, according to court filings.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story as a legal and humanitarian challenge to U.S. policy, emphasizing civilian deaths, lawsuit claims that the strikes were unlawful, casualty tallies, and legal-expert criticism, while giving briefer space to administration defenses. Editorial choices—placement of plaintiffs' accounts, citation of statutes, and repeated casualty figures—produce a skeptical narrative.
Sources (9)
FAQ
Lenore Burnley (mother of Chad Joseph, 26) and Sallycar Korasingh (sister of Rishi Samaroo, 41), both Trinidadian men killed in the strike, filed the 23-page wrongful-death complaint on January 27, 2026 in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The suit alleges the strike unlawfully killed the victims, invoking the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute, seeking monetary damages and a judicial finding that the killings were unlawful.
The strike targeted a vessel in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea, announced by President Trump on Truth Social with a 33-second surveillance video showing the explosion.
It is part of President Trump’s policy authorizing strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels, with at least 35-36 strikes since September 2, 2025, killing 116-126 people according to court filings and Defense Department statements.
Trump posted on Truth Social announcing a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel trafficking narcotics linked to a designated terrorist organization, claiming six “narco-terrorists” (male) were killed, sharing a video of the explosion.
History
5 sources