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A More Perfect District is a podcast from the ACLU of D.C. focused on the civil rights and civil liberties issues shaping Washington, D.C. We break down what’s happening, why it matters, and what it will take to protect our rights. Our work spans the courts, the legislature, and the street, all aimed at building a more just and free D.C.
[00:00:00.030] - Sam O'hara
It starts feeling like somebody is trying to intimidate us or scare us. And that's when I started protesting. National Guard is here in D.C. as oppressors. They're here as a flex of power and an overreach of power.
[00:00:15.310] - Amber Taylor
Hey everyone, and welcome to A More Perfect District, a podcast from the ACLU D.C. We work to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for people who live, work, and visit D.C. In the courts, in the legislature, and in the streets. I'm your host for this episode, Amber Taylor, Strategic Communications Director for the ACLU of the District of Columbia. Each episode, we take a deep dive into a civil rights and civil liberties issue shaping Washington, D.C. today and explore how we can protect our rights and move us closer to a more just and free D.C. Today, we'll talk with Sam O'Hara, a Washington, D.C. resident who played the Imperial March theme from Star Wars. While recording National Guard troops on the streets of D.C. In 2025, with the help of the ACLU of D.C., O'Hara sued an Ohio National Guard member and 4 D.C. police officers for violating his constitutional rights and D.C. law. We will talk to him about the importance of protesting in our democracy and his overall experience. Hey, Sam, how are you?
[00:01:23.150] - Sam O'hara
I'm good, Amber. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:24.770] - Amber Taylor
Thanks for being here today. So first of all, thank you for, you know, for doing it, for agreeing to do this and for your bravery that you've shown in protesting here in D.C. I know it's been quite a journey for you, right?
[00:01:38.520] - Sam O'hara
It has. A journey is an understatement. It's been a wild ride. But we're here.
[00:01:45.220] - Amber Taylor
We're here. We're still here. And you're still protesting.
[00:01:48.060] - Sam O'hara
Still protesting, have not stopped. In fact, passed some National Guard on the way here, but I was in an Uber, so that felt inappropriate to ask the driver to stop.
[00:01:57.180] - Amber Taylor
But here. But here, yeah. And for better or for worse, the National Guard— actually, no, worse— for the National Guard is going to be here for quite some time.
[00:02:05.370] - Sam O'hara
True or worse.
[00:02:06.650] - Amber Taylor
Yes. But I wanted to know if you could like just level set with us for a little bit, like, you know, on like a bit of who you are, Um, so, you know, I know you're a DC resident. Um, let's see, how long you been in the district?
[00:02:20.600] - Sam O'hara
Um, I've been in the district, I moved here in 2015. Uh, during the pandemic I moved away for a couple years for work. Um, but then moved back as soon as it was safe to. Um, so I have been here off and on for about a decade now. Uh, lived in Capitol Hill when I first moved here, and now I'm in Dupont Circle. Um, love Northwest DC.
[00:02:43.550] - Amber Taylor
Amazing.
[00:02:44.740] - Sam O'hara
Thanks.
[00:02:45.240] - Amber Taylor
Is there a particular part of like DC that you really love or care about?
[00:02:48.750] - Sam O'hara
I mean, this is, if you haven't been to DC in the spring, I tell everyone this is like when we show off, uh, DC is fully in bloom right now. The cherry blossoms everyone talks about, but the lilac in my neighborhood, the wisteria, the tulips, the magnolias. Um, it is a beautiful time to live in DC and, um, You can see it. The residents are out. They're young, they're vibrant, they're drinking their coffees, they're walking their dogs. It's a great time to be here.
[00:03:16.910] - Amber Taylor
Yes. No more cold. Like, we can actually go outside.
[00:03:19.940] - Sam O'hara
No more cold. Knock on, knock on.
[00:03:21.860] - Amber Taylor
Yes. Something.
[00:03:23.230] - Sam O'hara
False winter will come again. But yes, uh, right now DC is vibrant and a beautiful time to be here.
[00:03:29.990] - Amber Taylor
Amazing.
[00:03:30.760] - Sam O'hara
Yeah.
[00:03:31.480] - Amber Taylor
Um, so, and unfortunately, you know, I would like us to just kind of go back in time a little bit around like when you first started protesting here in DC and kind of why. So perhaps like, let's start with the first question. Like, when did you first start protesting the National Guard being here in DC?
[00:03:48.980] - Sam O'hara
As soon as their deployment really came. I'm a resident of the Dupont Circle neighborhood, and I started noticing, I started seeing the National Guard not as the enemy, but as a pawn of somebody who is trying to overstep his power and, uh, oppress. And, um, I'm not comfortable being oppressed. So, um, my brain immediately went to protests. And then my second thought was, how can we do this in a way that is creative and fun and harmless? Um, And I think I achieved that.
[00:04:31.730] - Amber Taylor
No, I would agree. I think you have a very creative form of protesting. So for those who are not aware, like, could you tell us a little bit about like what type of, what style of protesting you do?
[00:04:40.620] - Sam O'hara
Sure. So I protest one by playing the Imperial March from Star Wars while following Action Alert members from a safe distance. Um, but playing that music so that people passing by kind of start to put two and two together of what these people represent and who they are. Um, I do that in public spaces like sidewalks, city parks, um, outdoor spaces. And it started, um, just my Instagram story privately between my friends and I. And then became something that I started posting on my TikTok, @freedc200009, and it kind of went viral immediately from there.
[00:05:34.100] - Amber Taylor
Yeah. Like you've racked up at this point, what, millions of views on your TikTok?
[00:05:37.890] - Sam O'hara
I have. Yeah, I have. I've, uh, I've got over a million views on my TikToks and, um, the videos keep coming and comments keep coming, so. Check it out. I don't profit off TikTok, that's not the purpose of it, but I do like to think of it as a way for people that are not living in cities that are currently occupied by the National Guard to get an idea of what it's like to be in a city that is occupied. I also tried my best to kind of pan the camera when I'm filming so people can understand that these National Guard members are standing 4 or 5 of them at a time on beautiful sunlit street corners of Dupont Circle where young women are pushing strollers and walking their Goldendoodles. This is not, you know, a war-torn country.
[00:06:27.730] - Amber Taylor
Yeah, no, I think the, the juxtaposition of like the absurdness of it, I mean, we've seen them just like I've seen them on the D.C. Metro, just like on their, on their phones, like, you know, scrolling when this is costing like DC, you know, DC and taxpayers, like millions of dollars.
[00:06:42.850] - Sam O'hara
Millions of dollars. Millions of dollars. And there's so many other things that I would love our taxpayer dollars to go to. And that's like a whole other story. We want healthcare. Um, that said, why are they standing there and they're bored and they're slouching? And I don't imagine that the men, women, people that signed up to be in the National Guard were hoping to stand back to back at the Dupont Circle Metro station scrolling their phone and playing Candy Crush. I imagine that they signed up to do real heroic acts, national disaster relief, etc., etc. This is not what they're meant to be doing.
[00:07:26.730] - Amber Taylor
I'm also curious, like, when— have you been posting on, like, online? Like, what is the response been, um, to, to processing in this way?
[00:07:34.080] - Sam O'hara
Um, depends on who you ask. I will say that my neighbors high-fived me. Um, my neighborhood has kind of come to know me as that guy, um, and I get kind of nods of approval from the people in my neighborhood. I'd say that I get some negative comments from, um, people who I imagine are on the far right and can't see what I'm doing as a harmless protest act.
[00:08:04.360] - Amber Taylor
And mind you, first, you know, First Amendment protected act, right?
[00:08:08.640] - Sam O'hara
Very much so.
[00:08:09.600] - Amber Taylor
Constitutional rights.
[00:08:11.390] - Sam O'hara
First Amendment protected act. You know, there are a million ways to protest. And I think I've chosen a very, what's the right word? Harmless way to protest. You know, I'm not name calling. I'm not there's no violence. It's simply music being played to kind of allow the viewer or the person listening to kind of put two and two together of what I'm trying to say using almost like poetry.
[00:08:45.770] - Amber Taylor
Yeah.
[00:08:46.180] - Amber Taylor
Amazing. And now I would like to just like go back to kind of what led up to, you know, you wanting to file this lawsuit. So could you take us back to the day that, that, you, were protesting from the Ohio National Guard member and kind of what happened after that.
[00:09:05.860] - Sam O'hara
Sure. Yeah. And thanks for asking. I, um, got off work, was taking my regular walk home, um, and saw 4 National Guard members standing in Logan Circle on a street corner that I usually get pizza with my friends late night at, um, and decided to start filming and protesting. An officer from the Ohio State National Guard asked me to stop, told me to stop, and I remained silent and kept on filming because I knew my rights. I was well within my rights to continue doing what I was doing. At that point, he threatened to call the police if I didn't stop. Again, I remained silent and continued doing what I was doing. The police were called and they showed up by the dozen. And my rights were violated almost immediately. I was put into handcuffs, detained for about 20 minutes. And during that detainment, I was, you know, forcibly stopped from protesting. A crowd of people gathered and started videotaping. And it wasn't until I demanded to speak with a supervisor and kept on repeating the question of, you know, am I under arrest? Am I being detained? Why am I being stopped? That I was eventually released and my protest was stopped.
[00:10:35.870] - Sam O'hara
I felt in that moment, well, one, I was in shock, you know, like This is America, you know, this is Washington, D.C. If the Metropolitan Police Department isn't trained on how to handle simple protesting, then we've lost. And, you know, I went to dinner that night and was kind of talking to my friend and was just kind of shaken up about everything that had just happened. And we decided that night to get into Instagram's DMs and chat with the ACLU. And now, you know, fast forward, this is where we are. And I'm glad I did.
[00:11:19.670] - Amber Taylor
No, we're happy that you reached out to us as well. For anyone, you can reach out to us if you feel like your civil rights have been violated, visit our website, acludc.org. But I'm also curious, like, when you actually went ahead to file the lawsuit, what did that feeling feel like?
[00:11:41.260] - Sam O'hara
Um, I think it felt, you know, it felt like I was— sometimes I just try to follow my gut, and my gut was telling me that this is the right thing to do, you know. Um, the moment we stop standing up for ourselves, and I'm speaking like ourselves is like the generic we, but mostly people that protest here in Washington, DC. If I had let it just slide, if I had just decided that I wasn't going to file a lawsuit, it sets a precedent that this can be done to the next person. And I wasn't comfortable with that.
[00:12:19.900] - Amber Taylor
So I'm also curious, like, what do you think has been like one of the lessons learned or like your, um, some of your takeaways from like the power of protest after everything that you've been through?
[00:12:32.700] - Sam O'hara
Um, I think it's worked. Uh, I think that, um, you know, it got really great national attention, right? And that was the point of my protest. It got people talking about where their tax dollars are going, why those National Guard members are here, and what's the point. And that spurred a conversation. Um, and from that, you know, what's happened outside in the legal world, I can't speak to. From a point of—
[00:13:02.570] - Amber Taylor
Yes, your case is still ongoing. We are still fighting.
[00:13:05.680] - Sam O'hara
Correct.
[00:13:06.920] - Amber Taylor
No, I think it's important that your process absolutely did spark a lot of conversation around like, why are we doing this? What's the point of all this? Also, polling has shown that people do not like the fact that National Guard are just strolling around American cities. This is not, as you said, America. Um, what would you want people to the outside of DC to know about, you know, why you're protesting and like what it is like to be living under, um, with the National Guard over here?
[00:13:41.890] - Sam O'hara
Firstly, I'd like people to know that haven't visited DC that I think this National Guard, I'm going to call it propaganda, not your words, mine, but I think the propaganda coming out about having the National Guard here is ruining the tourism industry here. The hospitality industry. I'm seeing so many of my friends' restaurants being affected because who wants to dine when there's National Guard members standing out front of your restaurant? That all said, what I'd like people to know is that DC is a beautiful place to live. And if the National Guard were being deployed here because it was unsafe, you would think that they would start with the most unsafe cities in the United States, and that's not actually what's happening. The National Guard is here in DC as oppressors. They're here as scarecrows, and they're here as a flex of power and an overreach of power. And that's what I really hope that people get out of this, is that, um, they're not here to protect us. They're here to intimidate us, and I refuse to be intimidated.
[00:14:51.960] - Amber Taylor
Oh, I appreciate that.
[00:14:53.500] - Amber Taylor
And I think one of my final questions for you would be like, for anyone who is looking to protest, right? And particularly here in DC, like, what would your message be to them?
[00:15:04.780] - Sam O'hara
Get up, get off the couch, get outside, get with your friends. If you have something that you're passionate about, protest it. There's so many ways to protest. I mean, you can protest from your couch too, I should say. You know, if you have a voice, use it. Um, and if you need a bigger voice, speak with your friends, because somebody in that group has an idea of how to get the message out. Um, DC has so many historic moments, um, that I can think of with giant protests, and they aren't all rallies or walks. Some of them are smaller acts. Um, a protest can be as simple as refusing to do something that you're told or as big as doing something that will change the world. And I just hope that more people continue to protest because it's our civil liberty and it's our right. And if you don't practice it, you'll lose it.
[00:16:05.620] - Amber Taylor
No, we 100% agree. And Sam, thank you so much for being here today. Thank you.
[00:16:10.360] - Sam O'hara
I appreciate it, Amber.
[00:16:12.040] - Amber Taylor
That's it for this episode of A More Perfect District, a podcast from the ACLU of DC. I'm Amber Taylor, Strategic Communications Director. Thanks for spending time with us. Join us next time as we break down the civil rights and civil liberties issues impacting Washington, D.C. For show notes and ways to take action right now, visit acludc.org/podcast. And don't forget to follow, rate, and share this podcast to help more people stay informed. Till next time.