Ex-President Trump has been sued by yet another D.C.-area police officer in connection to the events of January 6, which left scores upon scores of officers with serious injuries that were sustained at the hands of the vicious mob of Trump supporters who descended upon the Capitol complex. U.S. Capitol Police officer Briana Kirkland sued Trump on the one-year anniversary of the riot last week, and, like other officers who have sued the ex-president, she is seeking the imposition of financial penalties on Trump. In the lawsuit, Kirkland directly blames Trump for the brutal violence that unfolded around the Capitol — something that the former president and his supporters have disturbingly seemed willing to gloss over or try and excuse, no matter their previously professed support for police.
Kirkland is after at least $75,000 in damages from the ex-president, in addition to getting Trump to cover her attorneys’ fees. The lawsuit from Kirkland states, in part, as follows:
‘As the leader of this violent mob, who took their cues from his campaign rhetoric and personal Tweets and traveled from around the country to the nation’s capital at Trump’s invitation for the January 6 rally, Trump was in a position of extraordinary influence over his followers, who committed assault and battery on Briana Kirkland… Trump, by his words and conduct, directed the mob that stormed the Capitol and assaulted and battered Briana Kirkland.’
367 days ago insurrectionists ransacked the US Capitol and *hours later* 138-of-202 (68%) House republicans voted to make trump a dictator. They tried to finish the rioters’ job and end democracy. Never forget it.
— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) January 9, 2022
It’s true, of course — Trump, in a speech that he began shortly before the storming of the Capitol, insisted that it would be necessary to “fight like hell.” Otherwise, he said, you won’t “have a country anymore.” His incitement extends well beyond that point — for months prior to January 6, he insisted (contrary to documented reality) that the presidential election had somehow been rigged for Biden and that urgent action was needed to address the supposed corruption. In actuality, officials at both the federal and state levels have confirmed that no systematic election fraud was present, and no court has ever accepted the notion of it. Trump is a liar.
Guardian US: Jan. 6 committee is examining whether Trump obstructed official proceeding — but now also whether he oversaw a criminal conspiracy connecting “political elements” of White House plan with violence
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) January 8, 2022
Kirkland’s lawsuit notes that she “endured an odyssey in which she started as one of the twenty or so USCP officers sent to the West Front of the United States Capitol, and ended covered in chemical spray, blood, with a traumatic brain injury that would cost her a year of her personal and professional life, and physical and personal injuries that will be with her indefinitely.” These travesties are what Trump is excusing when he tries to characterize the events of January 6 as not so bad after all, and when Republican leaders closely tie themselves to the former president, attempts at excusing or explaining away these physical assaults on police officers are what they too are allying themselves with. That’s just the reality, which these supposedly pro-police Republicans can not get away from.
The reason Trump is not in office today is because he didn’t receive enough votes to win the election.
The people said so. The states said so. The courts said so. The facts said so.
The Big Lie is poisoning our democracy. We will act to protect our democracy and voting rights.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 7, 2022
