Mississippi Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 16 against former President Donald Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.
Thompson’s lawsuit, which also names Rudy Giuliani, Proud Boys International, and the Oath Keepers as defendants, alleges that the four defendants “acted in concert to incite and then carry out a riot at the Capitol by promoting an assembly of persons to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct.” More House Democrats may sign on to the lawsuit, the NAACP told the New York Times. The NAACP is listed as a co-plaintiff. (RELATED: Prosecutors: Oath Keepers Leader ‘Awaited Direction From Trump’)
#BreakingNews the NAACP sues former President Donald Trump over the insurrection on Jan 6th.https://t.co/5q9g94uy6c
— NAACP (@NAACP) February 16, 2021
The Capitol Riot, which temporarily delayed the certification of President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, was “no accident or coincidence. It was the intended and foreseeable culmination of a carefully coordinated campaign to interfere with the legal process required to confirm the tally of votes cast in the Electoral College,” according to the lawsuit.
Thompson claims that Trump’s actions violate the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction Era law that prevents individuals from engaging in a conspiracy to “to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States… by force, intimidation, or threat.” The Klan Act also prevents the “use of force, intimidation, or threat to prevent any person from accepting or holding any office of trust or place of confidence under the United States, or from discharging the duties thereof.”
Trump was acquitted on Feb. 13 in a Senate impeachment trial for inciting an insurrection. Kentucky Republican and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, despite voting to acquit, suggested that Trump could still face lawsuits or even criminal charges for his actions.