5 leaders of the Proud Boys convicted of spearheading the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault are accusing the federal government and FBI workers of violating their constitutional rights, based on a lawsuit filed Friday.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court docket in Florida, seeks $100 million in restitution and comes after President Trump pardoned almost all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day again within the White Home.
The 5 Proud Boys — Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola — stood trial collectively in 2023, accused of plotting to cease the certification of the 2020 presidential election so Trump may keep in energy after he misplaced the election.
4 of the lads had been discovered responsible of seditious conspiracy. Pezzola was acquitted of that cost however convicted of different severe felonies.
Now, they declare the “political prosecution” violated their rights.
“What follows is a parade of horribles: egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal,” the 28-page criticism reads.
The lawsuit may pressure Trump’s Justice Division to defend the sweeping Jan. 6 prosecution undertaken by the DOJ of his predecessor, President Biden — or, pay damages to the right-wing extremist group leaders on the expense of American taxpayers.
Former U.S. Lawyer Common Merrick Garland as soon as described the Jan. 6 probe as one of many “largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations” within the Justice Division’s historical past.
Its crown jewel was the sedition convictions of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, one other right-wing extremist group whose members had been discovered responsible of plotting forward of the Capitol assault.
Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in jail — the longest time period of incarceration for any Jan. 6 defendant. However that sentence was wiped away when Trump pardoned him on Jan. 20.
Trump commuted the sentences of 14 different Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. An affiliate of the Oath Keepers whose sentence was commuted, Thomas Caldwell, has since been pardoned.
The lawsuit cites Trump’s pardon proclamation, which claimed to “end a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years.”
Talking to reporters Friday alongside Stewart Rhodes, founding father of the Oath Keepers, Tarrio known as on Trump to pardon the remaining Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The criticism says that Biggs, Nordean, Pezzola and Rehl utilized for pardons in Might.
“You’ve seen what the president has said about Jan. 6ers, and I believe that he did the right thing when he pardoned us on day one,” Tarrio stated Friday. “And, I think there’s a lot of work to be done.”
This story was up to date at 3:14 p.m.
