2 Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump For Injuries Sustained During Jan. 6 Riot – By Jaclyn Diaz (NPR) / Mar 31 2021
Two U.S. Capitol police officers are suing former President Donald Trump, for allegedly inciting the riots that took over the Capitol building Jan. 6.
Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby argue in court documents reviewed by NPR that Trump is responsible for the physical and emotional injuries the officers received following the violent riots at the Capitol. The insurrection resulted in the death of five people.
The lawsuit details the violence Blassingame and Hemby faced during the Jan. 6 attack, as well as the physical and emotional toll they continue to deal with.
Lawyers for the officers argue Trump’s repeated false claims over several months that the 2020 presidential election could be stolen or was eventually “rigged” motivated the eventual insurrectionists.
Trump “inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” the “insurrectionist mob” to force its way into the Capitol building to stop the certification of the election on Jan. 6. The mob “forced its way over and past the plaintiffs and their fellow officers, pursuing and attacking them inside and outside the United States Capitol, and causing the injuries.”
