Far-left actor Alec Baldwin has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons since the accidental shooting of his cinematographer. Now, he is being sued by the widow and family of a US Marine who was killed in Afghanistan during the military’s chaotic withdrawal in 2021.

 

The family is suing Baldwin for at least $25 million for defamation, claiming that he subjected them to online hate and abuse after the actor publicly bashed one of the family members for being at the Jan 6 protests.

Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J McCollum, 20, was one of the 13 Marines killed in a suicide bombing outside of Kabul’s international airport.

Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, one of the 13 Marines killed in the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport

In the wake of his tragic death, Baldwin sent one of McCollum’s sisters, Roice, a $5,000 check for McCollum’s widow, Jiennah, and their newborn baby.

Rylee McCollum and his widow Jiennah McCollum

However, as the family reported, Baldwin’s “seemingly benevolent overtures turned into a nightmare.”

Mere months after this act of “generosity” from the actor, he saw that Roice had posted a picture of herself at a protest near the Washington Monument on Jan 6, 2021, in a crowd of Trump supporters. Baldwin’s kindness quickly turned to malice, as he accused her of being an “insurrectionist.”

Baldwin commented on her Instagram post, saying, “Are you the same woman I sent the $ for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?”

Roice McCollum’s “throwback” Instagram post (Note: the woman pictured in the post is not Roice)

The actor then sent Roice a direct message, saying, “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.”

Roice responded, “Protesting is perfectly legal in this country and I’ve already had my sit down with the FBI. Thanks, have a nice day!”

But Baldwin wasn’t done, hitting back at her, saying, “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. I reposted your photo. Good luck.”

Baldwin, knowing exactly what his actions would do to this already hurting family, posted Roice’s photo to his Instagram account, which has 2.4 million followers. Within 20 minutes, Roice began receiving “hostile, aggressive, hateful messages” from the actor’s fans, according to the lawsuit.

Jiennah was also misidentified as an insurrectionist, however, she was not even in D.C. that day. Nevertheless, Jiennah, Roice, and her sister Cheyenne received a constant slew of hateful messages accusing them of being white supremacists and Nazis. Some even demanded they give Baldwin the $5,000 back.

Roice with her brother Rylee, who was killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan

The lawsuit states that “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.”

This is the second lawsuit that the family has filed against Baldwin, the first having been filed against him in January in Wyoming where Roice and Chyenne live. The first suit was dismissed in May because the Wyoming judge said she had no jurisdiction over Baldwin, who resides in New York.

The family is now demanding a trial by jury, seeking damages of at least $25 million for the alleged invasion of privacy, defamation negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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