The deposition is intended to find out whether Trump directed his former security manager to assault protesters outside his Manhattan tower.
A New York judge has ordered former President Donald Trump to give testimony in a lawsuit alleging that Trump Tower security guards assaulted a group of demonstrators.
According to The Guardian, the decision was issued by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Doris Gonzalez.
“Donald J. Trump shall appear for a deposition October 18, 2021 at 10 a.m. … or, in the event of illness or emergency, on another mutually agreed to date on or before October 31, 2021,” Gonzalez wrote.
The deposition is scheduled to be held this Monday in Trump Tower; it will be video-taped and then replayed when the case moves to trial.
The Guardian notes that the lawsuit centers on a confrontation between Trump Tower security personnel and a group of demonstrators, who were protesting the then-presidential candidate’s anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Their lawsuit says they decided to gather outside the building because they were concerned that Trump’s words had “the potential” to “incite violence against the Mexican immigrant community.”
During the protest, Donald Trump’s security manager, Keith Schiller, purportedly ripped demonstrators’ signs, which said, “Trump: make America racist again.”
When one of the protesters, identified by The Guardian as Efrain Galicia, tried to retrieve the signs from Schiller, the security guard struck him in the head.
“This is a case about Donald Trump’s security guards assaulting peaceful demonstrators on a public sidewalk,” said attorney Benjamin Dictor.
The Guardian notes that the same group of activists had protested outside of Trump Tower at least twice before. Both times, security personnel told them that they had to disperse and were not allowed to protest on the sidewalk, despite a New York Police Department officer having already told the guards that the demonstrators had a right to peacefully assemble in public spaces.
Now, attorneys for the plaintiffs say they want to depose Trump to see whether he was responsible for Schiller’s conduct.
“After defendants spent years unsuccessfully fighting to keep Donald Trump from testifying under oath, we will be taking his testimony in this case on Monday,” Dictor told The Guardian. “We look forward to presenting this case, including Mr Trump’s video testimony, to the jury at his trial.”
CNBC notes that, aside from Donald Trump, other named defendants include his 2016 presidential campaign, the Trump Organization, and Schiller.
The lawsuit seeks damages for the harm inflicted by Schiller.
Trump is currently defending another lawsuit, filed by a former “Apprentice” contest who claims that Trump sexually assaulted her at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2007.
Trump has denied the allegation.
Sources
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