Trump Should Sue Those Now Protesting At His NYC Tower

WASHINGTON - March 13, 2025 - PRLog -- President Donald Trump should bring civil law suits against those who engaged in an illegal protest at this Trump Towers today since a do-nothing approach will put all his properties at risk from copycats emboldened by the lack of any serious punishment for these criminals, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Although at least 50 protestors were arrested, they are likely to face only minuscule fines at best, and may not even be prosecuted, especially in New York City where those engaging in even more serious crimes are often not prosecuted, much less deterred from committing additional and violent crimes, he says.

Professor John Banzhaf, who has spearheaded and encouraged several such civil suits against criminal protestors, explains that not only can all who participated be sued individually for damages; under the legal doctrine of joint and several liability, each individual protestor can be sued and held liable for the entire amount of all the damages done.

At the very least protestors will be forced to hire lawyers and endure the risks and anxieties of a trial.  Also, since their actions were videotaped and can be used as evidence against them, they are likely to be found liable and face problems with their credit as well as garnishment of their wages (now or in the future) to pay the judgments.

Trump has frequently criticized universities for failing to discourage illegal protests; going so far as to threaten to cut off all their federal funding, even if their schools eventually had the protestors arrested.

Now he has a golden opportunity to show them what they should have done, and to provide an example of what they can accomplish in the future by suing students and others who engage in criminal protests on their campuses.

His refusal to do anything more than simply call for their arrests, especially in a protest-friendly city like New York, would seriously undercut his message to universities, and constitute an unmistakable sign of weakness if not hypocrisy.

It would also be an open and almost irresistible invitation to similar demonstrations protesting a wide variety of causes related to him (e.g., from fired government workers, veterans, etc.), says Banzhaf.

Indeed, it would virtually be an offer they cannot refuse, he warns.

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf