NAACP, Rep. Bennie Thompson Hit Former President Donald Trump With Civil Rights Suit

Former President Donald Trump has been served a civil lawsuit by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and the NAACP alleging he orchestrated the Capitol Riot.

Thompson and the NAACP allege that Trump’s false election claims, tweets and actions were a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights by inciting the Capitol Riot and violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act. The suit also names Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and right wing extremists groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers as co-defendants.

“The Defendants conspired to prevent, by force, intimidation and threats, the Plaintiff, as a Member of Congress, from discharging his official duties to approve the count of votes cast by members of the Electoral College following the presidential election,” the lawsuit states.

Much like Trump’s second impeachment trial, the suit lists a timeline of events leading up to and during the riot including Trump’s video from that afternoon where he gives a lackluster effort to get the rioters to stop.

According to Yahoo News, who will represent Trump and the far-right groups is still unknown. Joseph D. Sibley IV is representing Giuliani in this case and two others he’s involved in, which includes a $1.3 billion defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems.

More than 200 people were arrested and charged in the days that followed including many who were arrested by federal law enforcement at airports on their way home.

The suit is one of several issues the former president is facing now that he’s no longer in office. In addition to the civil suit, Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance finally has his tax returns. Additionally, members of the Republican Party are forming anti-Trump political action committees.

Five people were killed in the Capitol Riot, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and a former Air Force veteran who was shot by Capitol Police Chief Robert J. Contee III.