The lawsuit was filed Kashiya Nwanguma, a 21-year-old college student; Molly Shah, a 36-year-old activist; and Henry Brousseau, a 17-year-old high school student. According to their claims, they were peacefully protesting at a Trump rally in Kentucky when the presidential candidate stopped his speech and, pointing at the three, told the audience to "get ‘em out of here," repeating the phrase several times, according to the lawsuit.
Matthew Heimbach, a member of a white supremacist group, and Alvin Bamberger, a 75-year-old Korean War veteran, along with several other people, then reportedly assaulted the protesters, pushing, shoving and striking them.
Heimbach has responded to the suit, posting on a blog that he had intended to "drive out" Nwanguma, and claimed that she had initiated the incident by "pushing, shoving, barking, and screaming at the attendees for the better part of an hour."
Violence at Trump rallies, at least two incidents of which have involved audience members attacking protesters while they were being led away by security, have raised concerns that the Republican candidate's words and tone are encouraging supporters to use violence. Trump has denied that he condones violence.