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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against President Trump on Tuesday, this time pertaining to his alleged connection to the late Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick’s death during the attacks at the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s partner, filed a lawsuit against Trump in January 2023, per The Hill, for allegedly being “directly and vicariously liable” for his death.
Sicknick suffered two strokes and died of natural causes the day after defending the Capitol Building, which Garza has directly blamed the 45th president and others for causing.
She also included protestors Julian Khater and George Tanios, who reportedly pepper-sprayed Sicknick at the Capitol, in her lawsuit against Trump, seeking a total of $30 million total in damages from the three men.
However, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, ruled that the plaintiff was not eligible to file a suit because she lacked the required “statutory standing.”
In a 12-page ruling, Mehta ruled that Garza did not meet the legal definition of a domestic partner, nor was she Sicknick’s spouse, thus disqualifying her from bringing a wrongful claim against Trump.
“Her contention that a ‘domestic partnership’ was established simply by Officer Sicknick having identified Garza as his ‘domestic partner’ in his will finds no basis in the plain text of the statute,” the ruling read.
Mehta continued, “Garza therefore cannot recover the damages she personally seeks under the Act. The Wrongful Death Act claim therefore is dismissed.”
Mehta also dismissed two counts of negligence that Garza brought against Trump, but then tossed his argument that he had immunity from the lawsuit.
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