Family Of U.S. Marine Killed In Afghanistan To Refile $25 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Alec Baldwin
The family of slain Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum has started the process of refiling a lawsuit against disgraced Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin, who initially offered to provide monetary help to the U.S Marine’s widow and later insinuated the fallen’s soldier’s sister was “a January 6th rioter.”
Speaking on behalf of the slain Marine’s sisters and widow, lawyer Dennis Postiglione announced on Thursday that he would be working to refile their defamation lawsuit against Baldwin by September 12th, a deadline set by Manhattan Judge Edgardo Ramos.
“Without getting into specifics, we disagree with the analysis by the Court but believe an amended Complaint will address the issues presented,” Postiglione said in an email obtained by the Associated Press.
Though the McCollum’s defamation lawsuit filed against Baldwin was dismissed by Ramos last week, the Manhattan judge encouraged the family to refile the legal document to strengthen their case.
“In tossing out the original lawsuit, Ramos made various conclusions in Baldwin’s favor, including that his comments were protected by the First Amendment, that actual malice was not sufficiently alleged and that private messages, comments and social media posts did not support defamation claims,” AP News reports.
Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, addressed the judge’s decision, calling it “a victory for the First Amendment.”
“We have successfully had this lawsuit dismissed twice, and Plaintiffs have already amended their complaint three times,” Nikas further declared. “We fully expect the Court will uphold Alec Baldwin’s First Amendment rights and dismiss this lawsuit yet again.”
In January of 2022, Baldwin offered to donate the sum of $5,000 to the widow of the U.S. Marine who was tragically killed in a suicide bombing attack during the Biden administration’s disgraced withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The actor had taken to social media to reveal he had reached out to Roice McCollum, the fallen soldier’s sister, and instructed her to give the money to his brother’s widow, Jiennah McCollum, as a means to help her with her newborn daughter.
Earlier that month, Roice had shared a series of photos to her Instagram account, which showed her at the Capitol and the Washington Monument on January 6th, 2021 during the day’s protests before the riots occurred, prompting Baldwin to leave her a message accusing McCollum’s sister of being a rioter.
“When I sent the $ for your late brother, out of real respect for his service to this country, I didn’t know you were a January 6th rioter,” wrote the disgruntled actor.
“Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and I’ve already had my sit down with the FBI,” Roice replied, adding, “Thanks, have a nice day!”
Dismissing her comment, Baldwin fired back, declaring, “I don’t think so. Your activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election.”
“I reposted your photo,” the disgraced actor warned Roice, concluding his ominous message with a “Good luck.”
In his repost of Roice’s photo at the Washington Monument, Baldwin wrote, “There’s an interesting story here. So, I read in The Times, I believe, the story about the soldiers that died at the Kabul airport. I did some research. I found, on IG, that this woman is the [sister] of one of the men who was killed.”
“I offered to send her sister-in-law some $ as a tribute to her late brother, his widow and their child. Which I did. As a tribute to a fallen soldier,” he went on, before shamelessly concluding, “Then I find this. Truth is stranger than fiction.”
Seeking $25 million for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, and intentional distress stemming from Baldwin’s interaction with Lance Cpl. McCollum’s sister, Roice, the family of the fallen U.S. Marine filed a defamation lawsuit against the actor a few weeks later.
“Get raped and die, worthless c— [kiss emoji]. Your brother got what he deserved,” read one of the examples of the disturbing comments Roice received after Baldwin reposted her photo to his over 2.4 million Instagram followers.
The legal document filed by the McCollum’s declared, “Baldwin’s conduct was negligent and reckless as he should have known that making the allegations he did against plaintiffs to his millions of followers would cause plaintiffs harm.”
“Baldwin’s comments were false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, vindictive and caused – and continue to cause — plaintiffs severe emotional distress,” it elaborated. “Instead of being able to focus on grieving LCPL McCollum’s death and raising his newborn daughter, plaintiffs and their family are now fearful for their lives.”
Further, the legal document declares that the FBI had cleared Roice of any wrongdoing at the Capitol Hill protests, noting that the sister of the fallen U.S. Marine “did not take part in, nor did she support or condone the rioting that erupted.”
What do you make of the family refiling their lawsuit against Baldwin?
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