Trump to appear in video deposition Monday

Former President Trump is slated to give a videotaped deposition on Monday as part of a civil lawsuit dating back to a 2015 protest where violence allegedly broke out between the demonstrators and his security guards.

The deposition, scheduled for 10 a.m., comes after New York Supreme Court Justice Doris Gonzalez requested Trump’s testimony in connection to the 2015 lawsuit.

“Donald J. Trump shall appear for a deposition October 18, 2021 at 10 a.m. … or, in the event of illness or emergency, on another mutually agreed to date on or before October 31, 2021,” Gonzalez said in the order, according to ABC News.

Benjamin N. Dictor, a lawyer for the protesters, confirmed to The Washington Post last week that he would be questioning Trump at Trump Tower during a video testimony beginning on Monday.

“I will be conducting the examination of Donald Trump under oath, at Trump Tower,” Dictor said in a written statement. “We look forward to presenting the video record of his testimony to the jury at his trial.”

A group of Mexican protesters brought legal action against Trump, his campaign and his then-head of security Keith Schiller in 2015 after the demonstrators reportedly clashed with Trump’s security personnel during a protest outside Trump Tower in New York City that year.

The plaintiffs are alleging that Trump’s security guards assaulted them and violated their rights to free speech when they were protesting against the then-candidate’s comments regarding Mexican immigrants.

Trump in the past has said Mexican immigrants are “rapists,” and he has accused them of “bringing crime” into the U.S.

The suit specifically accuses Schiller of hitting one of the protesters, Efrain Galicia, in the head when he tried to confiscate a cardboard sign that said “Trump: Make America Racist Again,” according to CNN.

Schiller, however, has said that he was trying to clear the sidewalk when he struck the protester, according to the Post. He also said he was being grabbed from behind.

Trump was not present at the protest when the alleged violence broke out, but the demonstrators still named him as a defendant in the suit, arguing that the candidate’s language on the campaign trail indicated that such action against the protesters was allowed, according to the Post. The plaintiffs also noted that the guards were employed by Trump.

Gonzalez first ordered Trump to appear for a video deposition in 2019, when he ordered the then-president to answer questions because his testimony was “indispensable.”

The president, however, said he would not sit for the questioning session because of executive privilege. Gonzales later dismissed that claim, writing in an order that “no government official, including the executive, is above the law,” according to CNN.

Trump’s lawyers reportedly appealed that decision, which postponed the trial so the appeals court could work through the legal issues.

The Hill has reached out to Trump for comment.