Donald Trump settles a lawsuit alleging that protesters were assaulted by his private security personnel
A group of demonstrators who claimed they had been mistreated by the former president’s private security personnel during his 2015 presidential campaign filed a lawsuit, which the Republican has since resolved.
In one of several legal disputes involving the former president, the two sides reached a settlement as the jury was being chosen in a New York courthouse for a civil trial.
Trump filed a lawsuit in Florida on Wednesday to counter one of those claims, which was made by Letitia James, the attorney general of New York. James claims that Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, inflated Trump’s net worth by billions of dollars and lied to banks and other parties for years about the value of various assets.
Information about the litigation settlement involving the demonstrators was kept confidential.
The parties were ultimately able to reach an amicable agreement, despite the fact that Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, was keen to take the issue to try to show how pointless it was. We are thrilled to finally put this issue to rest and are extremely pleased with the outcome.
Five Mexican-born residents of New York filed the complaint. On September 3, 2015, they claim Trump’s bodyguards attacked them outside of his Manhattan building because they were protesting the president’s disparaging remarks about Mexico and Mexican immigrants. Reporters for the media captured the guards snatching signs from the demonstrators’ hands and shoving some of them.
The demonstrators’ lawyer, Benjamin Dictor, wrote in an email after the settlement was announced, “Powerful persons may put their names on buildings, but the sidewalk will always belong to the people.
“Defendants were looking directly into the eyes of a Bronx jury that was about to hear reams of evidence in favor of plaintiffs’ claims. However, plaintiffs are pleased that their claims have been resolved and that Donald Trump has acknowledged in writing their right to demonstrate on a public sidewalk, according to Dictor.
Trump took a deposition last year, which the jury would have heard. Along with the Trump Organization, his presidential campaign, and security employees, Trump was named as a defendant in the case.
would behave “negligently or recklessly.”
Trump’s legal team had fought against having him take the deposition. They maintained that “extraordinary conditions” must exist in order to remove a high-ranking government official while he was in office.
Judge Doris Gonzalez of the Bronx, who presided over the case, rejected that justification, stating that it was irrelevant because Trump was being held accountable for actions taken outside of his official capacity.
In a complaint he filed on Wednesday in Palm Beach County, Florida, Trump claimed James had violated Florida privacy rules by trying to access and monitor his revocable trust. According to the lawsuit, the trust contains his personal estate plan and decisions regarding how to divide up his assets after his passing.
James’ lawsuit against Trump asks for a number of sanctions, including the payment of at least $250 million, which she claims represents the estimated value of the benefits derived from the alleged fraud, as well as the prohibition of Trump and his three eldest children from ever again being in charge of a state-based business.
James’ lawsuit was described as “abusive,” “intimidating,” and “harassing” in Trump’s complaint as part of a “vitriolic and obsessive pursuit of President Trump.” James’ office received a comment request email late on Wednesday.
Trump had sued James separately, but a federal court in New York rejected it in May, dismissing his claim that she was motivated by political animosity and allowing her to continue her inquiry into his business operations.
