Former POTUS Donald Trump finally concluded his tumultuous four-year term in the Oval Office in January, not without an equally disastrous grand finale. Egregious supporters of the disgraced president stormed into the Capitol building days before President Biden was set to take office on January 6th in an attempt to stop the transfer of power from happening. Trump was impeached and then subsequently acquitted for the deadly incident, but it seems like the socialite may have another lawsuit on his plate.
According to legal documents obtained by Bloomberg, Trump has been served a lawsuit by two U.S. Capitol officers who suffered multiple injuries while defending the building from the attack on January 6th. Similar to the case made by the House against Trump, plaintiffs James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby are arguing that Trump played a role in inciting the violent mob attack that left five dead.
The two officers were on duty when the 'Stop the Steal' pro-Trump protest was taking place in D.C., a rally in which former POTUS Trump encouraged his overzealous supporters to go to the Capitol to protest President Biden's electoral win. The riot followed shortly thereafter.
“… You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong,” Trump said at the time. “We have come to demand that Congress do the right thing and only count the electors who have been lawfully slated, lawfully slated. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”
In the lawsuit, Blassingame claims he, “is haunted by the memory of being attacked, and of the sensory impacts – the sights, sounds, smells and even tastes of the attack remain close to the surface. He experiences guilt of being unable to help his colleagues who were simultaneously being attacked; and of surviving where other colleagues did not.”
“The carefully orchestrated series of events that unfolded at the Save America rally and the storming of the Capitol was no accident or coincidence,” the lawsuit reads. “It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College.”
Blassingame and Hemby are seeking monetary damages. While Trump was able to escape prosecution for the riots from the federal government, there's no telling if he'll be as successful this time around.
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