A judge has dismissed a $25 million lawsuit against Alec Baldwin, filed by the family of a Marine killed in the 2021 suicide bombing in Kabul.
The actor was sued for defamation by the Marine’s sister Roice McCollum, 23, after he found out she was involved in the Jan. 6 riots and he called her an “insurgent”.
US District Judge Edgardo Ramos said Baldwin’s comments, including calling Roice a “rioter,” were made in private messages, while others were protected under the First Amendment, according to NBC.
Ramos said he gave the family until September 12 to file a revised complaint.
This is the second time her lawsuit has been dismissed, having previously been dismissed on the grounds that it was filed in the wrong state – Wyoming and not New York.
Roice McCollum is suing Alec Baldwin for $25 million. Last year, he shamed her on Instagram for taking part in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and said he “didn’t know” she was a “rioter” when he gave her family $5,000 to save her to pay for her brother’s funeral
Rylee McCollum, 20, was one of 13 US soldiers killed in the August 26 terrorist attack at Abbey Gate at Kabul Airport
The lawsuit came after Baldwin, 65, donated $5,000 to the family of Lance Corporal Rylee J McCollum, one of the 12 service members killed in the Kabul bombing, through his Gofundme in August 2021.
In the documents, Roice shared some of the insults leveled at her online after Baldwin slammed her involvement in the Capitol riots about eight months earlier.
The actor was unaware of her presence at the riot when he made the donation.
In the comments section of a photo on Roice’s Instagram, Baldwin wrote, “Are you the same woman I sent the dollar for your sister’s husband who was killed pulling out of Afghanistan?”
She had posted a carousel of three photos she took last year while taking part in the riot, none of which showed her face. One showed another woman wearing a MAGA hat.
He then began bombarding her with private Instagram messages telling her to “own it,” and later posted her Instagram name to his own 2.4 million followers, telling her, “Good luck.” ”
In her private messages, he told her, “When I sent the dollar for your late brother, out of genuine respect for his service to this country, I did not know that you were a January 6 rioter,” he wrote to her.
She replied that she had not committed a crime and had already spoken to the FBI.
On January 3, 2022, Roice posted a series of pictures from the January 6 riot that she took the previous year. She posted them to her Instagram page with the caption “Throwback.” The photo above is not of her, but of another woman present
Baldwin commented below her post, asking if she was the “same woman” whose family he previously donated
“Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and I’ve already sat down with the FBI. Thanks. Have a nice day!’ She said.
Baldwin, 64, replied, “I don’t think so.” Their activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a police officer and an attack on the presidential election certificate.
“I reposted your photo. Good luck.’
Publicly, Baldwin said it was “ironic” that she was a rioter after her brother died fighting for the country.
He then replied to her name in the comments section of his own Instagram post and revealed her name to her 2.4 million followers.
Roice was inundated with abuse from trolls, some of whom told her her brother – who would become a father after his death – deserved to be murdered.
Within 20 minutes of Baldwin’s post, Roice received “hostile, aggressive and hateful messages from his supporters,” the lawsuit states.
She posted one to her feed, which Baldwin found “disgusting,” but she claims he knew what he was doing with his original post.
Roice McCollum poses with President Trump in another of her Instagram posts
Rylee has always wanted to serve in the military. The family addressed the most vocal critics of President Biden and the disastrous planning that led to the Kabul Airport attack
Marine Corps Lance Rylee McCollum’s wife, Jiennah McCollum, is also suing Baldwin
The Marines had been trying to secure the Abbey Gate at Kabul Airport during the disastrous evacuation of US troops from Afghanistan when they were killed last August
She insists that while she was attending the riot, she was not taking part in any riot and was just a protester.
“He falsely accused Roice of destroying government property resulting in the death of a police officer,” the lawsuit reads.
Her brother’s widow joins her lawsuit.
The McCollum family has been most vocal in its criticism of Joe Biden and the disastrous troop pullout from Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of Rylees and 12 other service members.
They were obliterated by an ISIS-K bomber on August 26, 2021 while trying to secure the Abbey Gate at Kabul Airport while tens of thousands of desperate Afghan refugees and international citizens tried to flee the country as the Taliban rolled through.
In their lawsuit, the Marine’s sister and widow point out that Baldwin’s fans are overwhelmingly Democratic and hateful for President Trump – whom they support.
They say Baldwin’s Instagram comments fueled political differences between the two camps.