Phillip M. Bailey

Louisville Courier Journal

Three Louisville residents who have sued real estate mogul Donald Trump for allegedly inciting a riot at his March 1 presidential rally said Friday the Republican front-runner should be held accountable for his hateful political rhetoric.

The lawsuit, filed in Jefferson Circuit Court on Thursday evening, alleges Henry Brousseau, Kashiya Nwanguma and Molly Shah were peacefully demonstrating at the Kentucky International Convention Center when Trump told supporters to "get them out of here." All three plaintiffs also accuse a white supremacist and a Korean War veteran of assaulting them during the event after Trump's comments.

"It says a lot about Donald Trump," said Brousseau, 17, a high school student. "We have not seen anything like this at any other candidates' rallies. It says a lot about the speech that Donald Trump is espousing that fosters and creates a perfect environment for this kind of violence."

Trump campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks did not respond to an email requesting comment. A lawsuit only represents one side of a case.

The three plaintiffs have all filed criminal complaints with police, alleging they were assaulted by different individuals at the rally. Nwanguma said she believes police are taking those charges seriously.

The suit accuses Matthew Heimbach, a leader with the white supremacist group Traditional Youth Network, of assaulting Nwanguma and Shah. It also claims Alvin Bamberger, a member of the Korean War Veterans Association, shoved Nwanguma.

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Video footage of Nwanguma being pushed around by Heimbach and Bamberger went viral after the March 1 rally. The suit alleges she was called racist and sexist epithets several times and was repeatedly assaulted while leaving the rally. Nwanguma was carrying a sign depicting Trump's face on the body of a pig, according to the suit.

"I was absolutely surprised that I was assaulted just because I was completely nonviolent," said Nwanguma, 21, a University of Louisville student. " ... I thought if I behaved myself and I acted within my rights people would do the same."

The suit also references other Trump rallies across the country in which there have been violent incidents, saying the attacks were a "blatant stamp of racism, religious intolerance, misogyny or any combination of the three." Trump's events have been scrutinized by pundits and his political rivals from both parties for documented violent altercations between his supporters and protesters.

The Daily Beast says police-reported criminal activity has occurred at one in seven of Trump's rallies, including two from earlier this week in Janesville, Wisc., when a 15-year-old girl who protested was maced at close range after punching a man she accused of touching her breasts.

But Trump has remained defiant in the face of these criticisms, telling People magazine in a March 30 interview, "There’s no violence. It’s a media fabrication."

Attorney Daniel Canon, one of the lawyers representing the three, said people who attend political rallies, including peaceful protesters, should not expect to be assaulted.

"What I'm hoping for is they get some measure of justice, and on a broader scope I hope people realize this is not the way to do things in the United States," he said.

Canon said as far as he knows this is the first civil lawsuit filed against Trump based on violence at his rallies.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.