Alec Baldwin has been hit with a defamation lawsuit after publicly accusing the sister of a Marine killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal of being a Jan. 6 rioter. In August, Baldwin sent the family a check for $5,000 after Rylee McCollum was killed in the line of duty. On Jan. 3, McCollum’s older sister Roice posted a photo showing her at a demonstration in support of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. McCollum was never found to have been involved in the riot and was never charged or accused by the FBI despite being interviewed. Baldwin commented on Roice’s post and asked, “Are you the same women I sent the $ for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?” After she confirmed she was Rylee McCollum’s sister, Baldwin sent her a private message in which he accused her of being an insurrectionist. He went on to repost Roice’s photo on his page, claiming that he reposted her image in order to juxtapose her “insurrectionist” actions alongside her brother’s sacrifice. The McCollum family says they then began to receive death and rape threats. The lawsuit— lodged by Roice, her sister Cheyenne, and sister-in-law Jiennah—says the three women have suffered from headaches, nausea, loss of sleep, severe anxiety, and fear for their lives because of Baldwin’s Instagram post.
