Family of Fallen U.S. Marine Suing Alec Baldwin for $25 Million

The family of a fallen U.S. Marine has filed a lawsuit against Alex Baldwin for defamation after the actor allegedly accused his sister of participating Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.

Earlier this month, Alec Baldwin gave $5,000 to the wife of fallen U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, one of the soldiers killed by a suicide bomber during President Biden’s botched pullout from Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. Baldwin had initially reached out to McCollum’s sister, Roice, asking her to give the check over to Rylee’s widow to help with their newborn daughter. Shortly after the two made contact, Roice posted an Instagram photo of herself at the Washington Monument during the January 6 protests outside the Capitol; she did not participate in the riots that day, according to court documents obtained by Fox News.

In several direct messages, Alec Baldwin labeled Roice a “rioter” and accused her of participating in the “unlawful destruction of government property.”

“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 reportedly wrote to Roice.

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

“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.”

Baldwin reposted the photo to his 2.4 million Instagram followers and referred to Roice as an “insurrectionist.” According to the lawsuit, Roice was nowhere near the rioting on January 6 as 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.” After a neighbor reported Roice to the authorities for attending the rally, she was cleared of all wrongdoing by the FBI.

As a result of Baldwin’s since-deleted post, Roice and her family claim that she was bombarded by hateful comments and death threats.

“Get raped and die, worthless c— [kiss emoji]. Your brother got what he deserved,” one commenter wrote.

The lawsuit further claims that Baldwin did not take back his comments and continued to falsely label Roice as a “rioter” and insurrectionist.”

“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 lawsuit states.

“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,” it continued.

The lawsuit comes as Alec Baldwin is being investigated over the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie Rust last October.