(Headline USA) The family of a Marine killed in Kabul during the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan last year filed a second defamation lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin, arguing he wrongly smeared them after he accused one of the women of being a Jan. 6 rioter.
The family of Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, who was one of 13 soldiers killed by a suicide bomber outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, said Baldwin messaged one of the Marine’s sisters, Roice, on Instagram and sent her a check for $5,000 for his widow, Jiennah, and her newborn baby after the tragedy.
Baldwin said the check was a “tribute to a fallen soldier” in his message to Roice, according to the lawsuit.
But a few months later, in January 2022, Baldwin publicly blasted Roice after he discovered a picture of her at a protest near the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, 2021. Baldwin accused her of participating in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and called her an “insurrectionist.”
“Are you the same woman I sent the $ for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?” Baldwin wrote on Roice’s Instagram post from his account, according to the complaint.
Baldwin’s “seemingly benevolent overturned turned into a nightmare,” McCollum’s family alleged. Baldwin then began to harass Roice via direct message. He also allegedly sent her a direct message.
“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,” the actor wrote, according to the suit.
Roice shot back: “Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and I’ve already had my sit down with the FBI. Thanks, have a nice day!”
“I don’t think so,” Baldwin responded. “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. Good luck.”
Within 20 minutes, Roice received thousands upon thousands of “hostile, aggressive, hateful messages” from Baldwin’s fans, the lawsuit says.
He also misidentified Jiennah as an insurrectionist in an Instagram comment even though she was not in D.C. that day, the family claims.
“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,” the suit states.
The family members have demanded a trial by jury and are seeking damages of at least $25 million for invasion of privacy, defamation, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
