WASHINGTON, DC – The largest civil lawsuit regarding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol will move forward against former President Trump, his presidential campaign, and over 20 other defendants, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, a federal judge ruled. Following U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta’s decision in Smith v. Trump that the case will advance, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Damon Hewitt, issued the statement below:
“We applaud the court’s decision to allow the case to proceed. No one is above the law in this country, including former President Trump, and those who sought to stage a coup in broad daylight on January 6th must be held accountable for their actions. This decision is an important development in the quest for justice. As the court noted in its decision, our lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to violate civil rights and involves more defendants than any of the other civil cases regarding the insurrection. It is the broadest and deepest case seeking justice for the attack on the Capitol, offering the nation’s best chance to ensure accountability.
The current leadership of the House of Representatives will no longer investigate the insurrection. The prosecutorial process continues but requires a more challenging standard of proof. The work that began under the U.S House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack now falls heavily on this litigation. This case is now a primary vehicle for transparency and accountability related to the January 6 insurrection and for establishing a complete historical record of the attack. Because we must all remind anti-democratic actors that there is a cost for their actions, our work defending democracy will continue without delay.
The Capitol Police officers who brought this suit deserve justice. They put their lives on the line to protect the votes and voices of everyone in this country, especially Black voters and other voters of color who were wrongly and disingenuously targeted as a source of election fraud. We cannot allow antidemocratic actors to attack their neighbors and fellow citizens without consequences. There must be a whole-of-society response to delegitimize this type of violent white supremacy, and our lawsuit is one part of that effort.”
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit https://lawyerscommittee.org.
