Seven Capitol Police officers filed a lawsuit Thursday against Donald Trump and some 20 far-right extremist leaders, alleging a coordinated plot on Jan. 6 to thwart the peaceful transition to a new administration.
The suit is one of several civil lawsuits now targeting Trump and his allies, but according to The New York Times, it takes a long view at the steps leading up to the Capitol siege, starting with Trump's claim in May 2020 that mail-in voting would “lead to massive fraud.” The suit also makes the case that Trump coordinated with right-wing groups and other political operatives to promote disinformation and sow doubt about the 2020 results.
“This is probably the most comprehensive account of Jan. 6 in terms of civil cases,” Edward Caspar, the lead attorney on the suit filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the Times. “It spans from the former president to militants around him to his campaign supporters.”
Specifically, the suit names Trump ally Roger Stone along with leaders of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers militia, and others. The suit argues that Trump and his allies violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 that prohibits the use of conspiracies to block Congress from performing its constitutional duties.
The lawsuit was brought by seven officers, five of whom are Black and shared their personal stories for the first time about the verbal and physical violence they endured on Jan. 6.
The Times notes that the suit mainly relies on news reports and some information gleaned from the government's criminal cases in order to build a narrative around the alleged plot to overthrow the government. For instance, it cites Trump’s instructions to the Proud Boys during a fall debate to “stand back and stand by” and connects it to subsequent public avowals by extremist leaders to use armed resistance as a means to “save the White House.” However, the process of discovery could also unearth new details about potential interactions between Trump, his inner circle, and the extremist groups that worked to incite violence on Jan. 6.
The suit now joins several other civil lawsuits seeking to hold Trump and his closest allies accountable for Jan. 6, including one filed on behalf of Democratic lawmakers, one filed by Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, and one filed by two Capitol Police officers.
Whatever comes of these cases, new information that had not previously been public will almost surely flow from them. The Jan. 6 investigation by the Select Committee will also add to the body of evidence illuminating exactly when Trump and his allies started to lay the groundwork for overturning his potential defeat and how explicit and far-reaching that effort was.