Trump Settles With Protesters Who Said His Bodyguards Attacked Them
Donald J. Trump on Wednesday reached a settlement in a civil case brought by protesters who said they were attacked by his bodyguards in 2015
In September 2015, in the early months of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign for the presidency, the protesters staged a demonstration outside Trump Tower during which they said the candidate’s bodyguards violently attacked them. They said Mr. Trump himself was responsible, because he had explicitly authorized the bodyguards to use force. They also sued his company, the Trump Organization, and several guards.
A lawyer for the protesters, Benjamin N. Dictor, said, “The sidewalk belongs to the people, it doesn’t matter whose name is on the building. We think that today’s resolution confirms that.”
They said in their lawsuit that Mr. Trump’s longtime personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller, had taken one of their signs, ripped it to pieces, and then struck one of the protesters on the head. They said there had been other attacks from other, unnamed bodyguards.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that Mr. Schiller had been doing his job and that it was he who had been attacked by the protesters.
Excerpts of Mr. Trump’s questioning under oath were made public in April. Asked about Mr. Schiller’s behavior on the day of the protest, Mr. Trump insisted that the bodyguard had done nothing wrong.
“He went out — I didn’t know about it. But he went out, he heard there was a disturbance and he went out. And he took a 50-cent sign down that was racist,” he said.
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