Washington D.C. Sues Proud Boys & Oath Keepers Over Roles In Capitol Riot

Washington D.C. District Attorney Karl Racine (D) has announced that the city has filed a civil lawsuit against the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers – two of the hate groups whose members participated in the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol – that seeks “the maximum financial penalties” for damages and expenses the District incurred as a result of the deadly attack.

Racine’s complaint is among several that have been initiated by members of Congress and law enforcement against those who laid siege to the Capitol.

The lawsuit filed in federal court cites the 1871 law, the Ku Klux Klan Act.

It alleges that the organizations involved with the events of January 6 planned and orchestrated the riot that killed five people – including three police officers – and that the city has had to spend millions of dollars in expenses as a result.

“No one bore the brunt of this gutless attack more than the courageous law enforcement officers including the men and women of the DC Metropolitan Police Department who went into the fire and violence with one objective in mind: remove the violent mob and restore our country’s fragile democracy,” Racine told reporters at a press conference.

“The defendants, as you know, were not tourists, nor were they acting patriotically. They were vigilantes, members of a mob, insurrectionists who sought to crush our country’s freedoms,” he added.

Racine has not, however, publicly disclosed the specific dollar amount sought by the District.

Lawyers for the defendants, meanwhile, maintain that Racine is going after the wrong people.

“You can’t file a fantasy in court,” said Jonathon Moseley, an attorney representing Philadelphia Proud Boys chapter President Zachary Rehl and Florida Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs. “There were clearly violent people who assaulted police that day, but that wasn’t the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers.”