一名州最高法院法官周五裁定，唐纳德·特朗普总统将不得不在纽约对他和特朗普组织提起的诉讼中出庭作证，该诉讼涉及2015年墨西哥抗议者和他的雇员之间的暴力冲突。
特朗普的律师试图撤销对总统证词的传票，该证词与特朗普发起总统竞选后几周发生的事件有关。在当时的候选人特朗普于2015年6月走下金色自动扶梯开始竞选活动后，抗议者在曼哈顿特朗普大厦外聚集了多个周末。
抗议者被他对拉美人的贬损言论激怒，举着标语，上面写着，“特朗普:让美国再次成为种族主义者。”
诉讼称，在他们的第三次示威中，特朗普的安全主管基思·席勒(Keith Schiller)没收了一些抗议标志，并袭击了一名试图找回这些标志的示威者。
“在这么多目击者和电视摄像机前被席勒袭击后，我担心特朗普的安全警卫会继续使用暴力阻止我们在公共人行道上示威，”抗议者埃弗雷恩·加利西亚(Efrain Galicia)在民事诉状中声称。"我非常关心我的安全以及我的朋友和其他活动家的安全。"
在周五的裁决中，纽约州最高法院法官多丽丝·M·冈萨雷斯呼吁关注总统有案可查的逃避司法监督的企图。
“200多年前，我们的开国元勋们试图摆脱专制统治，在这种统治下，绝对权力被授予君主。她写道:“对暴政重现的恐惧催生了我们的三分支政府，它以制衡为荣。"更明确地说，包括行政部门在内的任何政府官员都不能凌驾于法律之上。"
特朗普大厦的抗议在当时被广泛记录，几名示威者穿着白色长袍，带着尖头罩，向三k党偏爱的装束点头致意。只要抗议活动没有滥用公共安全，它们通常受到第一修正案的保护。
抗议者选择聚集在大楼外的人行道上，这是公共财产，不受特朗普组织的控制。根据诉讼，警官必须多次向特朗普组织的代表解释这一事实。
这场小规模冲突显然是在一名抗议者用混凝土种植器放置其中一个标志后开始的，尽管水泥种植器位于人行道上，但仍然是私有财产。据称，就在那时，加利西亚被搭讪，引发了导致他被席勒攻击的争议。
作为对置评请求的回应，代表加利西亚的律师之一本·迪克托告诉记者新闻周刊“法院的判决是正确的，它坚持了一项长期原则，即任何人都不能凌驾于法律之上，原告有权获得对方的审判证词。”
在此事上代表特朗普的律师没有回复置评请求。
这个故事已经更新，包括一名代表原告的律师的陈述。
JUDGE WARNS PRESIDENT TRUMP HE IS NOT ABOVE THE LAW, ORDERS HIM TO TESTIFY IN CIVIL SUIT
President Donald J. Trump will have to sit for a deposition in a New York lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization over a violent encounter in 2015 between Mexican protesters and his employees, a state Supreme Court judge ruled on Friday.
Trump's lawyers had sought to quash a subpoena for the president's testimony related to an incident that occurred in the weeks following the launch of his presidential campaign. Protesters had gathered outside Trump Tower in Manhattan over multiple weekends after then-candidate Trump descended the golden escalators in June of 2015 to begin his campaign.
Enraged by his derogatory comments about Latinx people, the protesters held signs that read, for example, "TRUMP: MAKE AMERICA RACIST AGAIN."
During their third such demonstration, the lawsuit alleges, Keith Schiller, Trump's director of security, confiscated some of the protest signs and assaulted a demonstrator who tried to retrieve them.
"After being attacked by Schiller in front of so many witnesses and television cameras, I am afraid that Trump's security guards will continue to use violence to prevent us from demonstrating on the public sidewalk," the protester, Efrain Galicia, alleged in the civil complaint. "I am very concerned for my safety and the safety of my friends and fellow activists."
In her ruling on Friday, New York state Supreme Court Justice Doris M. Gonzalez appealed to concerns about the president's documented attempts to escape judicial oversight.
"More than 200 years ago our founders sought to escape an oppressive, tyrannical governance in which absolute power vested with a monarch. A fear of the recurrence of tyranny birthed our three-branch government adorned with checks and balance," she wrote. "Put more plainly, no government official, including the Executive, is above the law."
The Trump Tower protests were widely documented at the time, and several demonstrators came dressed in white robes with pointed hoods, a nod to the Ku Klux Klan's preferred garb. As long as protests aren't abusive of public safety, they are generally protected by the First Amendment.
Protesters had chosen to congregate on the sidewalk outside the building, which is public property and not subject to the Trump Organization's control. This fact had to be explained to Trump Organization representatives by police officers multiple times, according to the lawsuit.
The skirmish apparently began after a protester lodged one of the signs by a concrete planter,which, although situated on the sidewalk, is still private property. That is when Galicia was allegedly accosted, setting of the dispute that led to his alleged assault by Schiller.
In response to a request for comment, Ben Dictor, one of the lawyers representing Galicia, told Newsweek that "the court was correct in its decision and it upheld the longstanding principle that no one is above thelaw and that a plaintiff is entitled to the trial testimony of an adverse party."
Lawyers representing Trump in the matter did not return a request for comment.
This story has been updated to include a statement from a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
