The suit, filed by fmr DC AG Karl Racine after similar challenges from police & lawmakers, marked the 1st effort by a govt agency to hold individuals & orgs civilly #liable for the #violence on #Jan6. A federal judge in Washington granted the District’s request to dismiss the case Fri.
The suit was fashioned after a modern version of an 1871 #law known as the #KuKluxKlan Act, which was enacted after the Civil War to safeguard govt ofcls carrying out their duties & protect #CivilRights.
A similar challenge ultimately prevailed against groups involved in 2017’s deadly Unite the Right rally in #Charlottesville.
“Given the challenges currently facing the District & the relatively small potential recoveries the District could obtain, OAG’s resources are now needed & best used elsewhere,” an OAG spox said [I call bullshit]. #DC had been seeking unspecified damages, as well as payment for expenses such as attys’ fees & court costs.
Following the #Jan6 attack, there was a wave of #civil cases & #criminal prosecutions that splintered the [domestic terrorist] orgs & sent many members to prison before sweeping #clemency from #Trump. Among them were group leaders named alongside >30 others in the city’s suit, including #ProudBoys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio & #OathKeepers founder Stewart Rhodes, both of whom juries #convicted of #SeditiousConspiracy for their part in trying to block the peaceful transition of power.
…When the suit was filed fmr DC AG Racine held a news conference pledging accountability for those “conspiring to terrorize the District of Columbia, for unlawfully interfering with our country’s peaceful transition of power & for assaulting our men & women in blue.”
…[Jan 6 advocate & participant] #EdMartin, #Trump’s selection to lead the DC US attorney’s office, which oversaw #Jan6 cases, has fired prosecutors who handled that work or investigated Trump.