The family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan during the suicide attack at the Kabul airport during the debacle of the Biden withdrawal is now suing Alec Baldwin, saying that he accused members of the family of being Jan. 6 rioters.
Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, of Wyoming, was a Marine, one of the 13 military members killed.
We’ll start with the nice part. Baldwin donated $5,000 to his widow, Jiennah Crayton, and her newborn baby, who was born after McCollum was killed in Afghanistan.
But then things went south. Baldwin saw a picture of McCollum’s sister at the Washington Monument, taking part in the rally in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021. He accused her of being an “insurrectionist.” While the sister, Roice McCollum, attended the rally, there is no evidence that she was ever involved in the riot, and she was never accused of committing any crimes.
“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,” the “30 Rock” star reportedly wrote in a private message.
Included in the lawsuit were screenshots of the actor’s messages, one of which showed Baldwin accusing her of being a “January 6th rioter.”
The sister pushed back at the actor, telling him that protesting is legal in the US and that she had already been interviewed by the FBI.
“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 wrote back, according to the lawsuit.
He then posted her picture on Instagram with his 2.4 million followers, saying she was involved on Jan. 6. He also allegedly called McCollum’s widow an insurrectionist.
Then Crayton, Roice, and McCollum’s other sister, Cheyenne, all received hateful and threatening messages.
The sisters and the widow have now sued Baldwin for $25 million for alleged defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
We previously covered the McCollum family, noting that the McCollum’s mother and sister Roice were not shy about criticizing how Biden handled the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“He cannot possibly understand,” Roice said. “My dad and I did not want to speak to him. You cannot kneel on our flag and pretend you care about our troops. You can’t f— up as bad as he did and say you’re sorry. This did not need to happen, and every life is on his hands. The thousands of Afghans who will suffer and be tortured is a direct result of his incompetence.”
We’ve seen how Baldwin has not been able to stop himself from talking when it comes to the shooting that occurred on his set, that he seemed to think he was a victim more than the person who died, Halyna Hutchins. We also saw him say some crazy things, including suggesting that “right-wing” media writing about him (at that point, he had not turned over his phone to police) somehow had something to do with “Jan. 6” hatred.
So, it’s not hard to imagine Baldwin might make some scurrilous, untrue allegations. He’s very anti-Trump and very liberal. But how despicable can you be to attack a grieving Gold Star family, particularly the widow? That’s just a horrible thing to allegedly do. There are few people to whom you should show more care than such a family who has lost so much.
That summarizes it and even today, during his press conference, Joe Biden said he had “no apologies” when it came to what he did in Afghanistan.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member