Yahoo Finance Alec Baldwin Sued for Defamation by Family of Marine Killed in Afghanistan
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Alec Baldwin is facing another lawsuit.
The actor is being sued for defamation by the family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan claiming Baldwin, 63, falsely accused members of the family of being present at the Jan. 6 capitol riots in Washington, D.C. The family is now demanding a jury trial, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
A lawyer for Baldwin didn't immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Rylee McCollum, 20, was killed outside of Afghanistan's international airport in an Aug. 26 bombing as U.S. military troops were processing evacuees to be flown out of the country following the Taliban takeover.
Following McCollum's death, Baldwin found one of the Marine's sisters, Roice, 22, on Instagram and sent her a $5,000 donation to go to McCollum's widow, Jiennah Crayton, and their baby, the court documents read
According to the complaint, earlier this month, Baldwin allegedly accused Roice of participating in the Jan. 6 capitol riots, calling her an "insurrectionist" and a "Jan. 6 rioter" in a private Instagram DM and reposting her photos of the demonstration to his Instagram account, telling Roice, "I reposted your photo. Good luck."
Baldwin has since deleted the photos although Roice, her sister Cheyenne and Crayton say they have received harmful messages and death threats since Baldwin reposted. Neither Cheyenne nor Crayton was at the capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to the suit.
On Jan. 1, Roice shared a photo of herself at the Capitol on Instagram, writing in the caption, "Throwback 😝🤘🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲."
RELATED VIDEO: Sheriff Says Alec Baldwin's Been 'Extremely Cooperative' During the Rust On-Set Investigation
In the suit, she states she attended a protest at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but that she did not participate in the riots that followed the demonstration and has been cleared after an interview with the FBI, according to the court documents.
The complaint further alleges that underneath the photo Baldwin commented, "Are you the same woman that I sent the $ to for your sister's husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit."
Since Baldwin shared Roice's image on Instagram, she, Cheyenne and Crayton say in the lawsuit that they have received "hostile, aggressive, hateful" messages on social media.
They call the actor's comments "false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, vindictive" and allege that the backlash caused the three of them "severe emotional distress," according to the court documents.
This is the most recent lawsuit Baldwin faces after being at the center of the shooting on the film set of Rust that took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
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Baldwin, along with the film's other producers, has been sued by two members of the Rust crew in separate lawsuits. Baldwin has not commented on the lawsuits.
Last week, the actor turned over his cell phone to authorities as part of the ongoing investigation into the accidental shooting.
Aaron Dyer, Baldwin's civil attorney at the Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman, told PEOPLE in a statement Friday, "Alec voluntarily provided his phone to the authorities this morning so they can finish their investigation. But this matter isn't about his phone, and there are no answers on his phone."
"Alec did nothing wrong. It is clear that he was told it was a cold gun, and was following instructions when this tragic accident occurred," he added. "The real question that needs to be answered is how live rounds got on the set in the first place."
