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Lawyers for the family of a fallen U.S. Marine who have sued Alec Baldwin for defamation slammed the actor’s defense in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Baldwin’s lawyers filed a motion April 4 in the United States District Court of Wyoming to have the defamation lawsuit dismissed. The actor has been sued by Roice McCollum, the sister of fallen U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, for allegedly mislabeling her as a participant of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Attorney Dennis Postiglione called Baldwin’s free speech defense “astounding” in a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“The irony of Baldwin asserting a political free speech defense is astounding. His entire series of posts and the subsequent attacks he caused and stoked against my clients continue to occur to this day,” Postiglione told Fox News Digital. “Roice McCollum’s exercise of her own free speech rights is what set Baldwin off.”
“In addition, Roice has asserted multiple Federal and State claims aside from defamation. There are two other family members, Rylee’s other sister and his widow, who were nowhere near D.C. on January 6 with multiple claims against Baldwin. Frankly, the motion is predictable and his arguments were expected. We will file a timely response and believe we will prevail.”
The lawsuit is seeking $25 million and alleging defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
However, the “30 Rock” actor wants the lawsuit dismissed. The court does not have “personal jurisdiction” over the actor as he resides in New York and not Wyoming, Baldwin’s lawyers argued in new court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.
Alec Baldwin has filed to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the family of a fallen U.S. Marine.
ALEC BALDWIN SUED FOR $25 MILLION BY FAMILY OF FALLEN US MARINE
The lawyers further argued that the plaintiffs failed to state claims for defamation, failed to state claims for false light invasion of privacy and failed to state claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“Baldwin expressed his opinion about a matter of public concern,” Baldwin’s lawyers explained in the filing. “Several others have expressed the same opinion as Baldwin about January 6. Some have expressed the opposite opinion. And there are opinion sections of major news outlets debating whether January 6 was an insurrection. There’s even a committee of the U.S. Congress investigating this issue.”
“Reposting a photo Roice herself publicly posted and then expressing a political opinion about it cannot be the basis for an intentional infliction claim,” the lawyers further argued.
The defamation lawsuit stemmed from Baldwin’s actions on social media. The actor donated $5,000 to Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum’s widow after he heard the fallen Marine’s story. The Marine was killed Aug. 26 in Kabul in a suicide bombing as he was processing refugees amid the United States’ controversial withdrawal from the country.
However, it seemed Baldwin had a change of heart after he saw a photo of Roice, posted by herself, at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The family of Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum sued Baldwin for allegedly mislabeling the Marine’s sister as a participant of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
(Deborah Gembara/Mana Rabiee)
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The image showed her at the Washington Monument on the day of the insurrection in 2021. According to the lawsuit, Roice was indeed among the protesters who showed up to the march. However, the court documents reveal that, while she was protesting the vote certification of Joe Biden that day, she did not take part in the rioting nor any unlawful activity.
“During the rioting, she was stuck in place outside the Capitol Building next to multiple police officers for hours after the rioting began due to the fact that so many people were around her and the area had been locked down,” the original lawsuit stated. “Later, a neighbor who was unhappy that Roice attended the demonstration turned her in to the authorities.”
Roice was interviewed by the FBI and cleared of any wrongdoing. Despite never being charged with any crime, the documents show direct messages between Roice and Baldwin in which he labels her a “rioter.”
Baldwin went on to repost the photo and call Roice an “insurrectionist” to his 2.4 million Instagram followers in a since-deleted post. Roice, her sister Cheyenne and Rylee’s wife Jiennah are suing Baldwin over his direct message and the decision to share his belief that Roice took part in the rioting.
Roice and her family say they were inundated with hateful comments shortly after the post went public. The court documents offer examples of some of those comments, among the most disturbing from someone who said, “Get raped and die, worthless c— [kiss emoji]. Your brother got what he deserved.”
The defamation lawsuit also included the direct messages sent between Baldwin and Roice on Instagram.
“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,” Baldwin wrote.
Roice responded: “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. 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,” Baldwin replied. “I reposted your photo. Good luck.”
The lawsuit is seeking $25 million and alleging defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
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Representatives for Baldwin or Roice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Roice’s lawyers previously called Baldwin’s conduct on social media “negligent and reckless.”
“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 original court documents state.
“Baldwin’s comments were false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, vindictive and caused – and continue to cause – plaintiffs severe emotional distress. 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.”
Fox News’ Melissa Roberto contributed to this report.
