More Officers Are Suing Trump Over Capitol Riot

They say they were injured by mob he incited
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 7, 2022 11:45 AM CST
Officer Who Was 'Covered in Blood' on Jan. 6 Sues Trump
Supporters of then-President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.   (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Capitol Police officer Briana Kirkland filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump on Thursday—a year to the day since she was injured trying to defend the building from his supporters. The lawsuit describes Trump as the leader of the "violent mob," NBC reports. Trump, "by his words and conduct, directed the mob that stormed the Capitol and assaulted and battered" Kirkland, the lawsuit states. The officer, who says she suffered injuries including a concussion and only returned to work full-time this week, is seeking at least $75,000 in damages plus attorneys' fees. The suit describes how Kirkland and other officers, outnumbered by rioters by more than 400 to 1, tried to hold their ground against the mob, CNN reports

"Officer Kirkland 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," the lawsuit states. Kirkland's lawyer, Patrick Malone, said the attack was the result of Trump's "provocative words and actions" leading up to Jan. 6. Three more officers sued Trump on Tuesday, Politico reports. Two others filed suit in March last year, followed by seven more in August.

In one of the two lawsuits filed against Trump Tuesday, Capitol Police officer Marcus Moore is seeking damages for "physical and emotional injuries," including persistent ringing in his ears, the Washington Post reports. In the other, Metropolitan Police Department officers Bobby Tabron and DeDivine Carter say they were injured when Trump supporters attacked them with fists, flagpoles, and pepper spray in intense fighting outside the Capitol. "Officer Tabron was fighting for his life and felt certain he would not survive to make it home alive to his wife or see his family again," the lawsuit states. Trump has argued that his rhetoric was protected free speech—and that he is immune from lawsuits because he was president at the time. (More Capitol riot stories.)

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