Three of five claims against Trump dismissed in civil lawsuit over Jan. 6 officer death
Brady Knox
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Three of five claims in a civil lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump and Jan. 6 rioters Julian Khater and George Tanios over the death of a U.S. Capitol Police officer were dismissed.
The lawsuit was filed by Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick’s partner, Sandra Garza. She alleged five counts: conspiracy to violate civil rights, two counts of negligence per se based on Washington’s anti-riot law, a wrongful death count, and a claim under the district’s Survival Act. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed the wrongful death and negligence per se counts.
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In the court filing, Mehta agreed with the defendants that Garza “does not have the statutory standing to make such a claim” in the wrongful death count. Mehta cited precedent holding that Washington’s anti-riot law “cannot sustain a claim of negligence per se” to dismiss one of the counts.
Two court decisions in December cleared the way for civil suits against Trump, who had argued that he was immune to them around his actions on Jan. 6, 2021.
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals on Friday found that Capitol Police veteran Conrad P. Smith can hold Trump civilly liable for the actions of the mob that rioted at the Capitol in 2021, affirming a similar decision by the court on Dec. 1. The decision cleared the way for Garza, who had filed her lawsuit a year ago.
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“In Blassingame v. Trump … this court held that former President Donald J. Trump had failed to demonstrate, at the motion-to-dismiss stage, that he was entitled to absolute presidential immunity from certain civil damages claims against him,” Judges Sri Srinivasan, Judith Rogers, and Gregory Katsas wrote on Friday. “This case is indistinguishable from Blassingame in all relevant respects.”
Though Mehta’s dismissal is good news for Trump, it clears the way for suing him on the counts of conspiracy to violate civil rights and the claim under the district’s Survival Act.