These Trinidadian fishermen were killed in an American boat strike. Now their families are suing

When the US launched its first deadly strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela last September, Chad Joseph called his wife to reassure her that he wasn’t there.

But a month later, the father of Trinidadr out of three were killed in another strike.

Joseph, 26, used to work in nearby Venezuela as a farm hand and fisherman. He and his work friend, Rishi Samaroo, 41, are believed to have been among the six men killed on October 14, 2025, by a US jet that targeted a small ship in the S Caribbean.headed for Trinidad and Tobago.

Now, the families of both men are suing the US government for wrongful death.

“This was a systematic and deliberate killing outside the context of war, making it easy to kill,” said Jeffrey Stein, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who represents the families. As It Happened hosted by Nil Köksal.

“We want to show the true human toll of these terrible murders and try to get a minimum sentence for the family members.”

126 have been killed so far

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mother, and Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s sister.

It is the first legal challenge facing US President Donald Trump’s administration over 36 boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September, killing at least 126 people.

The US government said, without providing evidence, that the men killed on the boats were “drug terrorists.”

“President Trump has used his legal authority to take strong action against the scourge of illegal drugs that has led to the needless death of innocent people,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.

But Joseph’s and Samroo’s families say they were just ordinary workers catching a ride home to Trinidad’s fishing port of Las Cuevas.

“Chad and Rishi were not members or affiliated with any drug organization,” Stein said.

“Our complaint also makes it clear that, regardless of the allegations that the victims of these deadly strikes were drug smugglers, all of these strikes are illegal.”

Who were Joseph and Samaroo?

According to the indictment, Joseph would often spend weeks, or sometimes months, fishing or doing farm work in Venezuela and sending money. home to his familyily, which is a common way for the men of Las Cuevas to make a living.

Stein says Joseph’s mother described him as a “kind-hearted son” who was always there for his family and friends.

When he went to work, the lawsuit says, he called his wife every day. In his final weeks, they talked about US strikes.

“As reports of US military raids on boats in the Caribbean Sea dominated the news in the region, Mr. Joseph began to fear going back,” the lawsuit reads. But he was determined to return to his wife and children as soon as possible.

On October 12, Joseph called his wife to tell her that he had found a boat to Las Cuevas, and that he would be home in a few days.

It was the last I heard from him.

Samaroo, who had worked with Joseph, had been living and working on the farm in Venezuela since 2024, after he was paroled for “participating in the murder,” the lawsuit said.

His job was to take care of the animals and make cheese. He used to send his family selfies with dogs, goats and cows on the farm.

But when his elderly mother fell ill, he decided to return home to take care of her.

He called Korasingh, his sister, on October 12 saying he was going to board a boat home, then sent her a picture of himself wearing a jacket.

His family never heard from him again.

“If the US government believes that Rishi has done something wrong, they should have arrested him, charged him, imprisoned him, not killed him,” Korasingh said in a statement about his brother’s murder.

“They have to answer.”

The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago expressed support for the US strikes. But the lawsuit notes that the Trinidadian government has said it has no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities, and has seen no evidence that any of the strike victims were in possession of illegal drugs or weapons.

The war on drugs

The Trump administration planned the raid, which was carried out under the direction of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as part of a war against drug cartels, saying they are armed groups.

It said its attack was in line with international laws known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.

Stein says the defense doesn’t hold water.

“It really doesn’t make sense under any legal framework,” he said. “No armed conflict between the United States and any Latin American drug cartel can justify the use of lethal force against small boats in the Caribbean or the Eastern Pacific.”

Luis Moreno Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said As It Happened in December that drug trafficking is a criminal matter, not an act of war.

“Killing these people [a crime] against humanity, because they are citizens,” he said.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, only seeks damages from the US government for the two deaths, not an injunction that would prevent further strikes.

Still, Stein says, stopping strikes is part of the goal.

“We hope to find that what the Trump administration is doing is illegal,” he said.