The family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan has filed a new version of their lawsuit against actor Alec Baldwin, accusing him of unleashing his social media followers against them, the Marine Corps Times reported.
The sisters and widow of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum had their initial suit dismissed but were invited by the judge to rewrite it and submit it again. The suit says Baldwin followers harassed them after he posted and commented on a photo shared by one of McCollum’s sisters, Roice McCollum, who was present for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Rylee McCollum, 20, was killed during a suicide attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 26, 2021 in the wake of the U.S. Military withdrawal from the country.
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"Earlier this week, Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan dismissed the family’s defamation lawsuit, which sought $25 million in damages, but he invited a refiling of the lawsuit to correct deficiencies and renew claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress," the Times' report stated.
"In tossing out the original lawsuit, Ramos made various conclusions in Baldwin’s favor, including that his comments were protected by the First Amendment, that actual malice was not sufficiently alleged and that private messages, comments and social media posts did not support defamation claims," the report added.
Roice McCollum said in the lawsuit that she “did not take part in, nor did she support or condone the rioting that erupted” at the Capitol. She was also cleared of any wrongdoing by the FBI.
Read the full report at the Marine Corps Times.
