Jessica Marie Watkins (2nd L) and Donovan Ray Crowl (Center), both from Ohio, march down the stairs on the east front of the U.S. Capitol with militia group Oath Keepers among supporters of the U.S. president Donald Trump in Washington on January 6, 2021 Both have been indicted by federal authorities for their role in the siege of the United States Capitol.
Jim Bourg | Reuters
Ten more Democratic members of Congress on Wednesday joined a federal lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump, his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and several right-wing extremist groups of conspiring to incite the deadly riot at the Capitol complex on January 6th.
The lawsuit, first filed by Rep. Bennie Thompson, Miss and the NAACP, accuses defendants of violating a federal law by causing violence with the goal of preventing Congress from confirming the election of President Joe Biden. The law cited, the Ku Klux Klan Act, was first used in the late 1800s to target the KKK racist for his violence against black Americans and his intimidation against members of the Southern Congress.
In addition to Trump and Giuliani, the lawsuit designates the extremist groups The Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and War Boys as defendants.
The members of the House who joined the lawsuit are: the representatives of California, Karen Bass, Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters; Steve Cohen of Tennessee; Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey; Veronica Escobar of Texas; Hank Johnson Jr. of Georgia; Marcy Kaptur of Ohio; Jerry Nadler of New York; and Pramila Jayapal of Washington State.
An amended version of the lawsuit was filed that added new members of the House as plaintiffs and filed additional allegations in the U.S. District Court in Washington DC. It seeks a declaratory sentence according to which the defendants violated the law by their conduct, a court order against similar actions future and unspecified economic damages.
The Capitol riot began shortly after Trump, Giuliani and other supporters of the then president addressed thousands of people in a rally in front of the White House, where they encouraged people to help them fight Biden’s confirmation as the president.
Trump and his lawyers for months falsely claimed he was swindled out of an election victory by widespread voting fraud in several states.
Five people died as a result of the riot, including a Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick.
The lawsuit accuses defendants of coordinating efforts to undermine the democratic electoral process and block the legal votes of millions of votes cast by black Americans.
“I have joined this denunciation as a plaintiff because the threat to the security of our democracy and to me individually was blatantly and violently dispensed with. There must be responsibilities for the violent disruption of our business and the personal fear that has arisen “. said Watson Coleman in a statement.
A Trump and Giuliani spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit says Cohen, during the invasion of the Capitol complex by hundreds of riots, began contemplating where he would like to be buried if he was killed, and that he sat in the dark in his office for hours while holding a baton of baseball during the disturbance.
She notes that Jayapal tested positive for Covid-19 days after she and other members of the House sought refuge during the riot in a small room where some representatives refused to wear masks.
And the lawsuit says Lee, after realizing he had escaped being injured or killed in the riot, began finalizing plans for his estate after Jan. 6.
Thompson said in a statement: “I am encouraged to be joined by ten of my colleagues in this critical effort to ask former Trump President Rudy Giuliani, the guardians of the oath, and the proud boys to explain the their respective papers on January 6 attack on the Capitol “.
“We owe it to our families, the American public, and history to come to the truth about the conspiracy that fueled a violent crowd to ravage the Capitol in an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Thompson said.