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The family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan last year reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin last week for the second time, accusing him of being “negligent and reckless” in posting about the service member’s sister being at a protest on Jan. 6, 2021.
The lawsuit was filed by Roice McCollum and Cheyenne McCollum of Wyoming, the sisters of Marine Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum, who died in Afghanistan, and his widow, Jiennah McCollum, of San Diego.
The family originally filed a suit in Wyoming, which was dismissed in May because the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over Baldwin who lives in New York, according to the New York Post.
The family filed the second suit in the Southern District of New York last Friday asking for $25 million in damages, saying that the “Beetlejuice” actor accused Roice McCollum of being a Jan. 6 “insurrectionist” on his social media, leading to her being verbally attacked by his fans.
HEROES OF KABUL: LANCE CPL. RYLEE MCCOLLUM LIVES ON IN HIS DAUGHTER, BORN 18 DAYS AFTR HIS DEATH
Alec Baldwin poses at the opening night of the new play “Hangmen” on Broadway at The Golden Theatre on April 21, 2022 in New York City.
(Bruce Glikas/WireImage)
McCollum, 20, was one of 13 American service members killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from the country last summer.
The suit said Baldwin contacted one of McCollum’s sisters, Roice, on Instagram and donated $5,000 on the family’s GoFundMe page to give to his widow as a “tribute for a fallen soldier.”
His baby was born 18 days after his death.
Rylee James McCollum enlisted in the Marine Corps on his 18th birthday, February 26, 2019.
(Courtesy of McCollum family )
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Last January, Roice McCollum posted a photo to Instagram of herself attending the pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6, 2021, ahead of the U.S. Capitol riot on the same day.
The post prompted Baldwin to message her: “Are you the same woman I sent the $ for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?”
He also sent her a direct message, according to the suit, writing, “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.”
Levi Rylee Rose McCollum, daughter of fallen Wyoming Marine Rylee McCollum, yawns in his grandmother’s arms. (Jill Miller Crayton via Facebook)
Roice McCollum responded, “Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and I’ve already had my sit down with the FBI. Thanks, have a nice day!”
The suit added that she had protested “peacefully” and that she was not accused of any crime after being interviewed by the FBI.
Baldwin wrote back, “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,” Baldwin wrote back, the lawsuit said.
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After he reposted the photo on his page, which has 2.4 million followers, and accused her of being an “insurrectionist,” his “seemingly benevolent overtures turned into a nightmare” the suit said. “Roice began to get hostile, aggressive, hateful messages from Baldwin’s followers.”
