A judge dismissed Thursday a court case filed by the family of a deceased US Marine who claimed actor Alec Baldwin defamed them on social media. The U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, where the lawsuit was filed, found it had no decision-making power over Baldwin because he was born and raised in New York City and resides in New York City.

The court also said the actor did not deliberately direct his activities into Wyoming and that his actions did not harm any resident of the state. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled and sent back to court.

The widow of Marine Lance Corporal Rylee J. McCollum and two of her sisters filed a libel suit in Wyoming in January.

McCollum was killed in 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. According to the lawsuit, Baldwin sent a $5,000 donation to McCollum’s sister, Cheyenne, to be given to the Marine’s widow.

Then, in January, Roice McCollum, another of McCollum’s sisters, posted a photo on Instagram of protesters at the Washington Monument on January 6, 2021, to mark the “one year anniversary of his presence at the Washington, DC protest,” reads the suit.

Baldwin privately messaged Roice on social media, apparently in response to her post, and allegedly called her “insurgent”. Baldwin then posted his take on the “capitol attack” on his Instagram feed, referenced the donation situation and shared the photo Roice had posted.

The court said Thursday that “Mr. Baldwin’s public posting to his own Instagram feed cannot reasonably be considered to be directed specifically at Wyoming” due to his large following on the social media site.

“A few Internet communications from Mr. Baldwin in New York to Roice McCollum in Wyoming are insufficient to establish that he expressly sought tortious conduct against Wyoming,” the dismissal order said.

Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, told Entertainment Tonight that they were “pleased with this win”.

“This is an important step towards the complete dismissal of the lawsuit, which is intended to punish Mr. Baldwin for expressing his political opinion,” Nikas said.