Capitol Police officers file federal lawsuit against Trump, Proud Boys
Seven Capitol Police officers filed a federal lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and dozens of others — including GOP operative Roger Stone and members of “extremist groups” like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers — over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The lawsuit claims that the attack was an organized conspiracy to prevent the Electoral College from certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election.
The officers alleged they “were violently assaulted, spat on, tear-gassed, bear-sprayed, subjected to racial slurs and epithets, and put in fear for their lives,” according to the lawsuit.
“After Defendant Donald J. Trump lost the November 2020 Presidential election, he and the other Defendants in this case conspired with each other and others to prevent Congress from certifying the election results through the use of force, intimidation, and threats,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Trump and other Defendants propagated false claims of election fraud, encouraged the use of force, intimidation, and threats, and incited violence against members of Congress and the law enforcement officers whose job it was to protect them.”
The lawsuit alleges their actions violate the Ku Klux Klan Act, which is meant to prevent politically and racially motivated violence
Collectively, the seven Capitol Hill officers have over 150 years of experience on the force with three officers having served for at least 32 years, the lawsuit said.
This is the second lawsuit filed by Capitol Hill officers against the former president over the incident, and the fourth lawsuit in total.
In February, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson sued Trump and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
In March, Congressman Eric Swalwell also filed a lawsuit against the former president, his son Donald Trump Jr., Giuliani and Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, claiming they incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and violated civil rights by attempting to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power. All three spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 in Washington.
To date, the FBI has reportedly found little evidence that the Jan. 6 Capitol siege was an organized plot by far-right groups or Trump supporters to overturn the presidential election.
More than 570 alleged participants have been rounded up by federal authorities since the siege, but multiple sources recently told Reuters the FBI hasn’t found proof they were engaged in a “grand scheme.”
Investigators had found that members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys plotted to break into the Capitol building, but there was no evidence indicating they had serious plans if they made it inside, sources said.
On Wednesday, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee — which had its first meeting a month ago — issued a wide-ranging records request to the National Archives and Records Administration and several other agencies, including phone records from members of Congress, as well as “all documents and communications relating in any way to remarks made by Donald Trump or any other persons on January 6.”
Trump responded by defending his executive privilege in the case and slamming the committee as “leftist.”
“Unfortunately, this partisan exercise is being performed at the expense of long-standing legal principles of privilege,” Trump said in an emailed statement.
“Executive privilege will be defended, not just on behalf of my Administration and the Patriots who worked beside me, but on behalf of the Office of the President of the United States and the future of our Nation. These Democrats only have one tired trick — political theater — and their latest request only reinforces that pathetic reality.”
