Families sue US over deadly October 14 boat strike off Venezuela

Businessinsider reports families of two Trinidadian nationals have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit accusing the US of unlawfully killing six men in a strike on a vessel off the coast of Venezuela on October 14, 2025. The complaint, filed in US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, identifies the deceased as Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, and says a US missile struck their boat as it sailed from Venezuela to Trinidad.

The suit says Joseph and Samaroo were returning home after fishing and working on farms in Venezuela, and rejects US claims that the men were linked to drug trafficking, saying the Trinidadian government has "no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities." The plaintiffs are named as Joseph's mother, Lenore Burnley, and Samaroo's sister, Sallycar Korasingh.

The lawsuit calls the strikes "unlawful" and accuses the US campaign of "premeditated and intentional killings" that "lack any plausible legal justification," invoking the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort Statute and seeking damages. The White House said the October 14 strike "was conducted against narcoterrorists" and that Trump "used his lawful authority to take decisive action against the scourge of illicit narcotics," while the Department of Defense said it does not comment on ongoing litigation as a matter of policy.