New allegations surface in Donald Trump riot lawsuit

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SAN JOSE - Exactly 24 hours before bloody riots broke out in downtown San Jose following a June rally for President-elect Donald Trump, Police Chief Eddie Garcia sat down to edit a media advisory meant to warn the public about traffic delays, according to an amended lawsuit on behalf of Trump supporters injured in the rally.

Garcia, according to legal papers, took out one critical line: "We are taking a zero tolerance approach to violent protesters" and a reference to San Jose using outside law enforcement to control what they predicted could become a violent event.

That's one of the several new allegations in an amended class action lawsuit filed Monday by Harmeet K. Dhillon on behalf of 20 Trump supporters who were injured in the rally. The suit seeks damages against the city and police chief.

"What it says to me is that the head of the police department made an affirmative choice to delete language about 'zero tolerance for violence' at the event - which is deeply troubling," Dhillon said, adding that the city was aware of riots against Trump in other cities leading up to San Jose's rally.

"Yet, apparently, they made a policy decision not to call for all available mutual aid to ensure the safety of all citizens on both sides at this event," she said.

Chief Garcia declined comment Tuesday. The suit shows he replaced the deleted "zero tolerance" of violence language with a line saying the department will do "everything possible" to ensure the event is safe.

City Attorney Rick Doyle said Tuesday he hasn't reviewed the amended complaint, but maintains that San Jose police did "everything they could and acted appropriately."

"I'm not going to get into specifics, but we worked very closely with the Secret Service to protect the candidate and the crowd of supporters and protesters," Doyle said. "We don't think there's much to this complaint."

The amended lawsuit also drops Mayor Sam Liccardo because the plaintiffs were unable to add additional facts about the mayor's alleged involvement. Dhillon is asking the judge for permission to once again add Liccardo as a defendant if new details are uncovered.

Liccardo came under fire earlier this year for comments following the riot that appeared to blame Trump and his supporters for the violence. Liccardo on Tuesday afternoon referred comments to the city attorney.

Dhillon, a San Francisco-based attorney and the RNC National Committeewoman for California, first filed suit in July on behalf of 14 plaintiffs who attended the political rally. It accused the city, Liccardo and Garcia of failing to protect Trump supporters who were "chased, beaten and assaulted" after leaving the event.

"The city defendants instructed all officers to stand by, watch as the attacks occurred, and not intervene, even as citizens were brutally assaulted and their property destroyed, before their eyes," the suit says.

A judge in October dismissed three of four claims against the city, but did not dismiss the claim of negligence, allowing the lawsuit to continue.

In the amended complaint filed Monday, Dhillon added seven new plaintiffs who were allegedly assaulted during the event and named seven additional San Jose police supervisors - but no police officers.

The suit also claims San Jose could have gotten help from a couple hundred more officers if it had requested additional mutual aid. The city's police department made three arrests that day, it continued, far fewer than arrests made at other riots in San Jose over the years.

The only people arrested the day of the rally, Dhillon added, were those who attacked police officers.

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