NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) joined with D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, States United Democracy Center, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and Dechert LLP on Tuesday in filing a federal lawsuit to hold two violent groups accountable for the role they played in planning and carrying out the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The lawsuit specifically claims the groups, and their leaders and members, caused extensive damage to the District of Columbia, and particularly to the law enforcement officers who risked their lives to defend the Capitol, those in it, the District, and our democracy.
The civil lawsuit is the first by a government entity against the January 6 insurrectionists. The lawsuit seeks to hold the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and their leaders and members accountable for their actions in planning and carrying out the January 6 attack and violating federal and District laws. It seeks to recover damages they caused to the District, particularly the physical, mental, and emotional injuries suffered by Metropolitan Police Department officers.
“ADL has been at the forefront of strategically monitoring, exposing, and countering extremist threats from across the ideological spectrum for decades,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. “We have deep expertise when it comes to the groups and individuals involved in the planning and execution of the January 6th attack and are honored now to be putting that expertise at the service of the District of Columbia and the brave officers who were injured or killed as a result of that day. Those who perpetrated the attack will not readily abandon their convictions. Domestic extremists, like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and others, continue to present a serious, credible, and dangerous threat to our democracy and to us all. Accountability for January 6th is critically important to preventing another violent insurrection from happening in D.C. or in state capitols across the country.”
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit alleges that the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and more than 30 of the individual members and affiliates of these groups participated in a coordinated violent attack on January 6th.
In the complaint, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) details how the groups planned, recruited, publicized, funded, and then carried out the attack – breaking through police barricades, forcing their way into the Capitol building, terrorizing members of Congress and their staffs, and brutally assaulting those who tried to stop them, including officers of the District’s MPD.
With ADL serving as outside co-counsel, OAG filed the suit under federal and local laws, including the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a Reconstruction-era federal law designed to provide a remedy against violent conspiracies that target our democracy like the attack that unfolded on January 6. OAG’s lawsuit lays out and alleges that:
- The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, and many individual members of these violent groups, conspired to terrorize the District and block certification of the 2020 election by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack – not a protest or rally – on the U.S. Capitol. The complaint details the organizations’ and individuals’ planning, publicizing, recruiting for, and financing of the violent attack, as well as the directions they gave the day of the attack. Members and affiliates of both groups openly rioted, broke through police barricades, and physically forced their way into the Capitol building. The attackers sought out individual members of Congress and broke into and vandalized the Capitol, causing Congressional members and their staff to flee for their safety. These events ultimately resulted in the deaths and injuries of multiple people, including District police officers.
- The District was directly harmed by these actions, particularly the District police officers who were part of the critical team of first responders who worked to defend the Capitol, the functioning of our democracy, and District residents from the violent, angry mob. Many of these officers were physically, mentally, and emotionally harmed by the insurrectionists. During the attack, MPD officers were beaten, stomped, dragged, kicked, pushed, punched, and trampled by the attackers. They sustained bruises, lacerations, shattered spinal discs, cracked ribs, wounds from being hit with a metal fence stake, and concussions from being hit in the head with objects, including metal poles ripped from inauguration-related scaffolding, and even an American flagpole. Some officers were sprayed in the face with chemical irritants, including bear mace, and shot with stun guns, leading to serious injuries including irritated lungs and a traumatic brain injury. In addition to suffering physical wounds, many MPD officers also required — and in some cases, still require — mental health treatment following the day’s traumatic events. As of mid-July 2021, more than six months after the attack, some officers who responded were still on leave as a result of the trauma they suffered.
With the lawsuit, ADL is seeking to hold these groups and individuals accountable for their violent and unlawful acts, deter them and others from ever taking such action again, and recover damages for the costs the District incurred as a result of the attack. The damages include the millions of dollars spent to deploy an unprecedented number of police officers to the Capitol, emergency medical care, and ongoing medical and mental health care for the numerous officers who were injured in the attack and continue to face trauma.
The States United Democracy Center (States United); ADL; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; and Dechert LLP are serving as pro-bono outside counsel in this case.
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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League