A couple of months after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump insisted that the rioters posed “zero threat.” The former Republican president added that the violent insurrectionists were merely “hugging and kissing the police and the guards” during the assault.
We were reminded again yesterday that members of the Capitol Police didn’t feel hugged and kissed. On the contrary, they’re now filing suit against Trump — among others. The Associated Press reported yesterday:
U.S. Capitol Police officers who were attacked and beaten during the Capitol riot filed a lawsuit Thursday against former President Donald Trump, his allies and members of far-right extremist groups, accusing them of intentionally sending a violent mob on Jan. 6 to disrupt the congressional certification of the election. … The suit was filed on behalf of the seven officers by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
The lawsuit alleges that Trump and his confederates, with their efforts to block the electoral vote count, violated the Civil Rights Act of 1871 — commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. As Rachel explained on the show in February, the Reconstruction Era law was designed in part to give federal officials legal recourse against those who conspire to use violence and threats of intimidation to keep officials from fulfilling their lawful duties.
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s because this new lawsuit is not the first of its kind. In March, two congressional Democrats — Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson and California’s Eric Swalwell — filed separate cases against the former president. (Thompson later dropped his case after he became the chair of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.)
A few weeks later, two Capitol Police officers, both of whom are still dealing with the adverse physical and mental effects of the pro-Trump riot, also filed suit against Trump. What makes yesterday’s news a little different is the scope of the legal targets. The seven Capitol Police officers aren’t just suing Trump, they’ve also named the Trump campaign in the case. And Roger Stone. And members of the Proud Boys. And members of the Oath Keepers. Lawyers for each of these defendants have been plenty busy. Their workload just got a little worse.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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