Clashes with Capitol police at a rally to challenge the certification of the results of the 2020 US presidential election by the US Congress on January 6, 2021 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, tear gas is released into a crowd of protesters.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Seven US Capitol police officers filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday accusing former President Donald Trump, far-right “violent extremist groups” and others of direct responsibility for the deadly January 6 invasion of the Capitol.
The lawsuit was filed against more than two dozen people and organizations, including Republican agent Roger Stone and far-right group Proud Boys. It claims the defendants conspired to prevent Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s electoral college victory “through the use of force, intimidation and threats”.
Their actions violated the Ku Klux Klan Act, which aims to protect against political violence and intimidation, and other laws, the lawsuit said.
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“The defendants’ unlawful efforts culminated in the mass attack on the Capitol on Jan.
“Many of the defendants in this case planned, supported and actively participated in this attack. All of the defendants are responsible, ”the lawsuit said.
The complaint said the seven officers were “violently assaulted, spat on, sprayed with tear gas, sprayed with bears, subjected to racial slurs and surnames, and feared for their lives” while walking down the Capitol in front of a crowd of Trump supporters defended.
Her lawsuit is at least the fourth lawsuit against Trump related to the Capitol riot and the second to be filed by members of the Capitol Police Department.
In February, the NAACP and House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson sued D-Miss.
The next month, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., Filed his own lawsuit against Trump and Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., Accusing them of being “wholly responsible” for the destruction of the mob. All three men spoke to crowds of Trump supporters at the Stop the Steal rally outside the White House on Jan. 6 when Congress was due to meet in the nearby Capitol to confirm Biden’s victory.
In late March, Capitol Police Officers Sidney Hemby and James Blassingame filed a lawsuit holding Trump responsible for the injuries they suffered and continue to suffer from the invasion. They are each demanding more than $ 75,000 in damages.
“As this lawsuit makes clear, the January 6 riot was not just an attack on individuals, it was an attack on democracy itself,” said Damon Hewitt, president and chief executive officer of the Civil Rights Advocate Committee, which governs the civil servants in the law Case filed on Thursday.
“It was a blatant attempt to stifle the votes and votes of millions of Americans, especially black voters,” Hewitt said in a press release.
The officials said in a joint statement that their jobs became “infinitely more dangerous” after January 6th.
“We want to do what we can to ensure that the people who did this are held accountable and that no one can do this again,” the statement said.
Trump was charged in January in the Democrat-run house of inciting the riot, with 10 Republicans backing the move. He was acquitted in the Senate, which required a two-thirds majority to be convicted.
But questions about Trump’s role in the attempted uprising have hardly faded after his acquittal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, formed a special committee to investigate the attack after Senate Republicans shot down an attempt to create an equally bipartisan “9/11 style” commission. Trump could be called to testify as part of this investigation, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, DS.C., said last month.
On Wednesday, as part of its review, the select committee made extensive inquiries for documents from numerous federal agencies as well as Trump’s White House.
Meanwhile, a Capitol police officer who shot and killed rioter Ashli Babbitt while trying to break into the speaker’s lobby was acquitted by the USCP following an internal investigation.
The official, whose identity has not been officially revealed, will be revealed for the first time in a television interview that will air Thursday night on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.
