Capitol Police Officers Suing Trump for Inciting Violent Mob That Attacked Them

Capitol Police officers are suing former President Donald Trump for his role in fomenting the mob of his violent supporters who attacked them during the storming of the U.S. Capitol Building.

Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, describing their confrontations with the rioters who appeared before them after Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. The complaint outlines the physical injuries both of them experienced on Jan. 6t plus the mental trauma they’ve experienced since then.

The lawsuit demands financial compensation from Trump, alleging that the former president “inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” the mob who invaded the Capitol in an unlawful attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The suit cites Trump’s false rally claims that the election was “stolen” from him, as well as the fact that the mob was echoing his rhetoric while they attacked Blassingame, Hemby, and their colleagues throughout the day.

“Both United States Capitol Police Officers reported for duty on January 6, 2021, without any suspicion that they would soon become the targets of Trump’s followers,” the suit says, according to Washington Post. “Trump, by his words and conduct, directed the mob that stormed the Capitol and assaulted and battered James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby.”

The complaint comes after Trump was impeached (for the second time) on charges of incitement of insurrection, plus the lawsuit filed against him by Democratic lawmakers.

The former president has continued his delegitimizing the 2020 election, and defended the violent mob in an interview where he claimed there was “zero threat” and “some of them went in, and they are hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships.” This in spite of the fact that five people died in connection to the attack, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.