Trump Sued by Jan. 6 Cop Who Feared Death by His Own Gun
Trump Sued by Jan. 6 Officer Who Feared Death by His Own Gun
(Bloomberg) -- A Capitol Police officer who helped evacuate members of Congress during the Jan. 6 insurrection sued Donald Trump over injuries sustained in the riot, at least the fourth complaint by cops accusing the former president of inciting the deadly attack.
The suit filed Tuesday in Washington by Marcus Moore, a 10-year veteran of the Capitol Police, comes almost one year after Trump supporters who were egged on by false claims about a stolen election tried to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
Moore’s complaint includes extensive details from House testimony about the attack, as well as his first-hand account of the violence that overwhelmed the Capitol as rioters took control. The officer, who is seeking financial compensation for physical and emotional injuries, described being assaulted by rioters and using an office chair to wheel a lawmaker to safety during the attack after the politician began experiencing chest pains.
“The insurrectionists were spurred on by Trump’s conduct over many months in getting his followers to believe his false allegation that he was about to be forced out of the White House because of massive election fraud,” Moore said in the complaint.
The lawsuit adds to a growing list of legal troubles Trump faces as a result of the riot, including earlier suits by police officers and members of Congress. He’s also suing to prevent the Biden administration from giving Congress his White House records pertaining to the attack. Two officers with the Metropolitan Police Department filed a separate suit against Trump on Tuesday.
“The insurrectionists threw fire extinguishers, poles, and other objects, and struck the officers with their fists,” Moore said in the complaint. “Insurrectionists shouted at Moore and the officers to join them, screaming ‘we stood up for you,’ even as they attacked him.”
Some, who physically clashed with the officers, shouted, “take their guns and kill them,” Moore said, adding the rioters “were armed and organized.”
Trump’s lawyer, Jesse Binnall, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The complaint also includes Trump’s false remarks at a “Stop the Steal” rally before the riot and his tweets later that day praising the insurrectionists. It also describes how Moore and his colleagues were trapped in the vestibule outside the House Chamber after being overcome by rioters who entered through broken windows.
Moore said one unnamed member of Congress, whom he ushered to an internal relocation site, began feeling chest pain during the attack. Moore said he spent hours in the building, sometimes hearing gunshots that he couldn’t identify.
Notably, Moore said the insurrectionists “acted as though they knew the Capitol’s vulnerabilities” because they seemed to target a small number of single-pane windows that had not been reinforced with metal and bomb-resistant glass along with hundreds of other windows a few years earlier.
Metropolitan Police Department officers Bobby Tabron and DeDivine Carter also sued Trump over the physical and emotional injuries they claim they sustained on Jan. 6. The officers quote Trump extensively in the suit, pointing out that he told the right-wing Proud Boys group during a televised debate with Biden to “stand back and stand by” and asserting the election “is not going to end well.”
“Officials warned Trump that his incendiary rhetoric about the election could cause injury or death, but he persisted,” the officers said in their complaint.
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