Two Capitol Police officers are suing former President Donald Trump for allegedly “inciting” the Jan. 6 Capitol siege and causing them physical and “emotional” harm.
Officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby alleged in their complaint that Trump “inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” the rogue group of rioters that breached the Capitol building while the Senate held its vote to certify the Electoral College outcome.
Both officers said they continue to suffer physical pain and emotional trauma from the riot nearly three months after it happened.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, seeks $75,000 in compensatory damages for each officer and unspecified punitive damages.
In the complaint, Blassingame said rioters slammed him against a stone pillar, leaving him temporarily “unable to move.”
He also claimed rioters called him a “n—-r” during the attack, saying he “lost count of the many times the racial slur was hurled at him.”
Rioters then used “weapons that ranged from flagpoles to stanchions and building directional signs, water bottles, and other objects” to hit him on “what felt like every part of his body,” the lawsuit stated.
“[Blassingame] continues to have pain in his back, but the severe emotional toll the January 6 insurrection has taken on Officer Blassingame continues to reveal itself,” the lawsuit read.
“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,” it continued. “He experiences guilt of being unable to help his colleagues who were simultaneously being attacked; and of surviving where other colleagues did not.”
Hemby similarly claimed the attack left him with physical injuries that have caused him to “continue to sleep poorly and feel hyper-aware and on high alert during his waking hours.”
The officers claimed Trump is responsible for their injuries because he questioned the integrity of the 2020 presidential election in several key swing states and urged Republicans to reject President Joe Biden’s win.
