Georgia Mom and Daughter Sue Grocery Store Clerk Over Capitol Riot Accusations
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Prominent Georgia Republicans Katheryn Cagle and her mother Thelma Cagle are suing grocery store clerk Rayven Goolsby for defamation and libel after she suggested the mother-daughter duo were organizers of and participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Goolsby wrote on Facebook that she thought the younger Cagle “was on the planning committee, I hope she doesn’t plan to make a career out of planning riots” after Cagle posted from their hotel room on Jan. 6., “Yes, Mama and I are in Washington, D.C.”
Goolsby alleges that the Cagles, who have held various high-ranking positions in Republican politics in Georgia, played a central role in organizing busloads of attendees to go to D.C. for the “Women for America First” tour on Jan. 6. That event preceded the deadly riot at the Capitol. Goolsby also criticized husband and father William Cagle, calling him a homophobic loser, according to the Washington Post.
Goolsby’s lawyer Andrew Fleischman said the lawsuit was simply a way of “making it expensive” to criticize the prominent family “even if the criticism is true.” He went on to claim the suit was an example of a prominent family active in local politics using the courts to intimidate his client. “We shouldn’t be afraid that criticizing an important person in our community could cost us thousands of dollars,” he said.