Two U.S. Capitol Police officers have filed a federal civil lawsuit against Donald Trump, claiming the former president incited the insurrection on Jan. 6 that led to physical injuries and emotional damages.
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James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby are the first law enforcement officers to take legal action, alleging they were injured after Trump “inflamed, encouraged, incited (and) directed” the violent mob that stormed the Capitol and caused five deaths, including their fellow officer Brian Sicknick.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in a Washington, D.C., federal court, is the third lawsuit seeking to hold the former president accountable for the actions of the angry mob. The other two were filed by Democratic congressmembers.
Blassingame and Hemby, who have been with the Capitol Police force for a combined 28 years, are seeking at least $75,000 in damages. Both accuse Trump of ordering his supporters to attack them.
In the complaint, Hemby said he “was crushed against the doors” of the Capitol and “sprayed with chemicals” that caused him to bleed from his face. Separately, Blassingame claims rioters threw him against a stone column, causing injuries to his head and back.
In the court papers, both men also describe being deeply terrified as they were outmanned by the angry mob.
Blassingame said he “is haunted by the memory of being attacked, and of the sensory impacts — the sights, sounds, smells and even tastes of the attack remain close to the surface,” the lawsuit states, adding that racial slurs were repeatedly hurled at him and that he continues to suffer from depression and that the “severe emotional toll ... continues to reveal itself.”
“He experiences guilt of being unable to help his colleagues who were simultaneously being attacked; and of surviving where other colleagues did not,” the suit says.
Trump, who previously denied any culpability in the assault, has so far not responded to the suit, according to CNN.
In an interview on Fox News last week, the former president put forth a false narrative of what happened, telling viewers that the rioters were “hugging and kissing the police.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell, who served as a House manager in Trump’s last impeachment trial, filed a lawsuit in early March that accuses Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks of directly inciting the violence at the Capitol in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The California Democrat’s lawsuit also seeks damages from Trump and the former president’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for their roles in inciting the riot.
Swalwell’s suit follows a similar action filed in February by Rep. Bennie Thompson in an attempt to hold the former president accountable for the uprising.
Information provided by Tribune News Service was used to supplement this report.
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