The Washington, D.C. city prosecutor filed suit Tuesday against two right-wing, anti-government groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, alleging they helped carry out the violent January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol as lawmakers were certifying that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
City Attorney General Karl Racine accused the two groups in a civil suit of causing “extensive damage” in the U.S. capital city and injuring city police officers during the protest.
“We’re holding these insurrectionists accountable for conspiring to terrorize” the city “by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack on the Capitol,” Racine said. “I’m seeking damages in this case and will keep working to ensure such an assault never happens again.”
At a rally shortly before the demonstrators entered the Capitol, Trump urged his supporters to “fight like hell” to keep him in office for another four-year term.
More than 600 rioters who rampaged into the Capitol have been charged with an array of criminal offenses, with about 50 already convicted and sentenced. Some, facing minor trespassing charges, have been handed probation terms and no jail time, while others who assaulted police, have been sentenced to more than four years in prison.
