Trump Supporter Accused of Rally Violence Blames Trump

He's suing over promise to pay legal fees
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 29, 2017 1:19 AM CDT
Trump Supporter Accused of Rally Violence Blames Trump
A protester who disrupted a Trump rally is removed from the floor Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in Louisville, Ky.   (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

President Trump is dealing with another campaign-related legal headache—and it's got nothing to do with the Kremlin. White nationalist Matthew Heimbach is being sued by a protester who says he assaulted her at a rally in Kentucky last year and he, in turn, is suing Trump, saying he was acting at Trump's direction and "relied on Trump's authority to order disruptive persons removed," the New York Times reports. Heimbach is also suing for Trump to make good on his promise to pay the legal fees of anybody who ejected protesters from his campaign rallies. Three protesters who were removed from the Louisville rally are also suing Trump, alleging he incited the use of violence when he told supporters "Get 'em out of here."

Heimbach, founder of the Traditionalist Youth Network, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has called "virulently racist and anti-Semitic," denies shouting racial slurs at protesters and says he was acting to "remove a threat." The Indiana resident says he is no longer a Trump supporter because the president has "betrayed" the white working class too many times. In a legal filing earlier this month, Trump's lawyers rejected the argument that Heimbach and fellow rally attendee Alvin Bamberger have indemnity because Trump had some kind of control over their actions. They "are the ones alleged to have engaged in violence and who directly caused plaintiffs’ alleged injuries," the filing stated. (More President Trump stories.)

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