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D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine on Tuesday sued the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, two right-wing extremist groups whose members are accused of taking an active role in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking outside the Capitol, Racine said he was seeking to have the groups and more than 30 individual members pay for the damages and costs incurred by D.C. in responding to the insurrection, and that if he bankrupted them in the process, “then that’s a good day.”
“By seeking justice through this civil lawsuit, we will hit the organizers, planners, and participants in their wallets and purses in order to deter their ability to strike again,” he said.
The lawsuit, which Racine said was the first of its kind to be filed by a state government, relies on both local and federal laws, including a federal statute passed in 1871 known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which broadly prohibits political intimidation against former enslaved people.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), who now chairs the Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, similarly cited the law in a lawsuit against former president Donald Trump earlier this year, as did victims of the 2017 Unite the Right rally that left one dead and more injured in Charlottesville in a lawsuit seeking damages against organizers.
Last month jurors awarded the victims $25 million in damages. Read more.
