The families of two Trinidad and Tobago nationals killed in an US missile strike, file a lawsuit against the Donald Trump government.
According to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, the suit alleges wrongful death and extrajudicial killing.
The claim was filed in the US district court for Massachusetts in Admiralty on January 27th by Lenore Burnley, the mother of Chad Joseph and Sallycar Korasingh, the sister of Rishi Samaroo.
The relatives brought their claims under two federal statutes: the death on the high seas act, a law that allows family members to sue for wrongful deaths occurring on the high seas.
Also, the alien tort statute, which allows foreign citizens to sue in US Federal courts, for violations of well-recognized human rights norms.
26-year-old Mr. Joseph and 41-year-old Mr. Samaroo were among six people killed on, October 14th, 2025, when a missile struck a small civilian boat as it travelled from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago.
The men were returning home to Las Cuevas when the strike occurred.
According to the lawsuit, the attack was part of a broader campaign of US military action targeting civilian boats in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean.
The claim alleges that at least 36 such strikes have been launched since September 2025, resulting in a minimum of 125 deaths.
President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth have publicly boasted about and published videos of the strikes — including the strike that killed Mr. Joseph and Mr. Samaroo.