Monday, April 17, 2017

Legal defense: "Trump made me do it"

Screen grab: Fox News
Like the abusive husband who says to his bruised wife: "Don't make me come over there and hit you again," a man accused of assaulting a woman at a Trump rally says it's the president's fault because Trump inspired him to do it.

The assault occurred during the campaign for then-candidate Trump last year at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The accused said in a court filing Friday that he was merely following Trump's directions when he helped remove her from the boisterous crowd.

So if Trump said to jump off a building, would this guy jump?

Alvin 'Badahboom-Bahdaah' Bamberger, 75, filed a countersuit in U.S. District Court. He said "he would not have acted as he did without" Trump's "urging and inspiration." 
Google image

In his mind, he was just following orders.

Bamberger is accused of shoving Kashiya Nwanguma at the Louisville, Kentucky rally last year, according to WDRB-TV

In his filing, he cited other Trump rallies, saying that Mr. Trump and his campaign "repeatedly urged people attending" the rallies to "remove individuals" who were voicing opposition to Trump's candidacy and he promised to pay anyone's legal fees of pro-Trumpers who removed protesters.

The victim, who continues to suffer from severe liberalism, a mental disorder, along with Molly Shah and Henry Brousseau, allege that they were physically attacked by several members of Trump's audience, including the elderly Bamberger.

A video shows Bamberger, a Korean War veteran and Ohio resident, can be seen on video shoving Nwanguma, a 21-year-old University of Louisville student (possibly majoring in lesbian dance theory).

Nwanguma claims she was protesting non-violently, simply carrying a sign showing Trump's face on the body of a pig. The lawsuit alleges [predictably] that she was called racist and sexist slurs and repeatedly assaulted. 

Along with Bamberger, another alleged assailant, Matthew Heimbach, shoved and struck her. 

Bamberger acknowledged he "touched" a woman but denied assaulting anyone. 

The video of the rally went viral.

Stephen Pence, Bamberger's attorney and former lieutenant governor of Kentucky, filed a counter-claim arguing that Trump and his campaign "repeatedly urged people attending" the rallies "to remove individuals who were voicing opposition to Trump's candidacy."

So now that Trump is President, Bamberger apparently is willing to throw him under the proverbial 'bus.'

Pence further argued that Nwanguma wasn't injured by Bamberger's actions and her allegations "do not rise to the level sufficient to support the award of punitive damages."

President Trump's attorneys denied any wrongdoing in an answer to the original lawsuit on Friday arguing, in part, that Mr. Trump is "immune from suit because he is President." In addition, the attorneys offered 15 potential defenses, including freedom of speech, immunity and that protesters were "responsible for their own injuries" [because they bought tickets to the event]. 

If anyone was injured, they argued, it wasn't because of anything then-candidate Trump said.

The attorneys also asked the lawsuit be dismissed and the president be awarded costs, expenses and attorney's fees.

Attorneys for Nwanguma, Shah and Brousseau claimed they were peacefully protesting when Trump stopped his speech and told his supporters to "get them out of here."

Judge David J. Hale ruled last week that the suit against President Trump can proceed, finding it "plausible" that Trump's directions advocated the use of force.

Trump's attorneys argued in response that the comment, "Get them out of here" wasn't directed to the crowd, and that Mr. Trump told security, "Don't hurt them."





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