Former President Donald Trump is now being sued by two U.S. Capitol Police Officers who claim he “inflamed” the crowd leading to an insurrection, which they claim nearly cost them their lives on January 6.
Long-time veterans James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby recently filed the lawsuit against Trump claiming to have suffered horrific injuries and they are placing the blame solely on the former president.
The two men claim in the suit that Trump incited the Capitol riots by riling up his followers over the results of the 2020 presidential election. They point to a tweet from the ex-president from December 19 where Trump said, “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there. Will be wild!” They argue that this statement was a battle cry that was “taken by many of [Trump’s] supporters as a literal call to arms.”
According to reports, Hemby says the riot caused him to be “crushed against the doors on the east side” while “trying to hold the insurrectionists back” causing him to suffer cuts and abrasions to his face, hands, and body while the crowd attacked.
Blassingame says he was slammed up against a stone column, causing damage to his spine and the back of his head. He says people were also yelling at him and calling him racial slurs. In the suit, he says he is “haunted by the memory of being attacked, and of the sensory impacts – the sights, the sounds, smells and even tastes of the attack remain close to the surface” and added that he suffers from survivor’s guilt because he was unable to help some of his fellow officers who lost their lives that day.
The two officers are suing for an undetermined amount of damages for their physical and emotional distress.
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