Five members of the far-right group Proud Boys, convicted for their involvement in the Capitol riot of 2021 but later pardoned by former President Donald Trump, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, seeking $100 million in damages.
The lawsuit was submitted on Friday in a federal court in Florida. The plaintiffs assert that they were subjected to “politically motivated persecution” aimed at punishing Trump’s supporters.
They allege that the Biden administration and the prosecutors overseeing the case “improperly and abusively utilized the U.S. judicial system and the Constitution to punish and suppress political allies of Trump.”
On January 6, 2021, a mob of Republican supporters stormed the Capitol, motivated by unfounded claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.
This violence resulted in over 140 police officers being injured and approximately 1,600 individuals arrested and charged, with more than 1,270 later convicted.
The five individuals involved in the lawsuit were found guilty of conspiracy and participating in the riots. Trump pardoned or reduced their sentences on the first day of his second term.
“These individuals were ruined,” Trump stated after approving the pardons. “The treatment they received is outrageous. Rarely has anything like this occurred in our nation’s history.”
Trump has referred to the Capitol attack as a “day of love.”
One of the plaintiffs, Enrique Tarrio, received a 22-year sentence, the longest in connection to the events.
Last month, the Trump administration agreed to pay nearly $5 million to the family of a woman who was killed by police gunfire during the Capitol riot.
The case was set to proceed to court, but after Trump’s election victory, the Justice Department opted to settle with the woman’s family.
Ask me anything
Explore related questions
