Trump hit with two new lawsuits from police officers attacked by rioters on January 6

CNN

By Tierney Sneed

Former President Donald Trump was hit with two new federal lawsuits Tuesday from law enforcement officers who were at the US Capitol on January 6 and who allege that Trump directed the assault that left them injured and emotionally traumatized.

The two complaints — one filed by a US Capitol Police officer and another by two members of the DC Metropolitan Police — join six other civil suits that have been filed against Trump, the rioters or others for their alleged role in encouraging the Capitol attack.

The latest cases accuse Trump of directing assault and battery; aiding and abetting assault and battery; and violating local Washington, DC, laws that prohibit incitement of riots and disorderly conduct.

They also bring claims under the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law that has been cited in other January 6 lawsuits against Trump and his allies.

“On information and belief, Defendant Trump agreed and conspired with his followers to stage an attack on the Capitol to prevent Congress and Vice President Mike Pence, by force, intimidation, or threat, from discharging their duties of certifying the winners of the 2020 presidential election,” the lawsuit brought by Capitol Police officer Marcus Moore says.

According to his lawsuit, Moore went temporarily deaf after hearing flashbangs detonated by the rioters as he was entering the Capitol during the attack. While he was posted in front of the House chamber doors, he was crushed against the wall by the rioters, the lawsuit said, adding that “insurrectionists threw fire extinguishers, poles, and other objects, and struck the officers with their fists.”

He suffered from physical injuries, including a persistent tinnitus, as well as depression, the lawsuit said.

The Metropolitan Police officers who brought the other suit — Bobby Tabron and DeDivine K. Carter — also say they suffer injuries from that day. Their lawsuit said that Tabron — who broke his wrist among other injuries — suffers from insomnia, as well as slightly slurred speech and slower thinking from a concussion after rioters repeatedly hit his head. Tabron was posted behind a set of bike racks near the Capitol, where he was struck with flag poles and bats, according to the lawsuit.

He engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the rioters, who “called him a n***er and shouted at him that he’d be nothing without his badge,” according to the lawsuit.

Carter, while he was on the west side of the Capitol, was repeatedly struck by the rioters, including when he was attempting to help a fellow officer who had been punched, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, he and Tabron were both for a time attacked by rioters while they were assembled by the ceremonial entrance to the Capitol that Carter now calls “the tunnel of death.”

“For what felt like hours, Carter was struck, hit with poles, and crushed from every direction,” the lawsuit said.

Both officers suffered the effects of the chemicals sprayed on them by the rioters, the lawsuit said, and Carter repeatedly vomited on himself after he was sprayed with bear spray “more times than he could count.”

When Tabron returned home that night, “the chemical smell soaked into his skin was so potent, even his wife’s eyes burned.”

An attorney for Trump, as well as his spokesperson, did not respond to CNN’s inquiry about the new lawsuits.

Allegations about Trump’s conduct

Like the other January 6 lawsuits that have been filed against Trump, the new complaints cite the former President’s conduct not just at the rally before the riot, but in the months leading up, when he hyped up false claims about the election being stolen.

“Officials warned Trump that his incendiary rhetoric about the election could cause injury or death, but he persisted,” the lawsuit from the DC police officers said.

The new lawsuits incorporate evidence from the criminal prosecution of various rioters. The complaints include quotes from those defendants or their attorneys blaming Trump for their actions curing the assault on the Capitol.

“Many of the rioters cited Trump’s words and conduct as the inspiration for their violent actions,” the lawsuit said. The lawsuits also cited remarks from Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in which the Republican lawmakers said that Trump was responsible for the events of that day.

The other civil lawsuits brought against Trump and others linked to the Capitol riot are still in their early stages. In a recent motion to dismiss that Trump filed in a case brought by Capitol Police officers last summer, the former President said that the “rally at the Ellipse was not an attempt to inspire a riot to interfere with Congress.” He denied that the remarks he made at the rally amounted to threats of violence.

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CNN’s Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.