Five leaders of far-right group the Proud Boys, who were convicted in connection to the 6 January, 2021 Capitol riot, have sued the US government for $100 million (£74m), claiming that their rights were violated during their prosecution.
The five were convicted of plotting and taking part in the riot to overturn President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Trump pardoned or commuted their sentences earlier this year.
The lawsuit, filed in Florida on Friday, claims FBI agents and prosecutors were motivated by personal biases when prosecuting their cases.
They argue their constitutional rights were trampled on “to punish and oppress political allies” of Trump.
The lawsuit was filed by Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
Tarrio was found guilty of plotting the 2021 attack on the US Capitol, which happened as lawmakers were certifying former President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest out of the five.
He was formally convicted of seditious conspiracy, a rarely used charge of planning to overthrow the government, and multiple other counts.
The other four leaders faced similar charges, and were also sentenced to time behind bars.
Their convictions were overturned by Trump, who issued approximately 1,500 pardons of people involved in the Capitol riot in January, on the day of his inauguration.
“These people have been destroyed,” Trump said after signing their pardons. “What they’ve done to these people is outrageous. There’s rarely been anything like it in the history of our country.”
The lawsuit filed on Friday alleges the five leaders of the Proud Boys were subject to “egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system”. It accuses prosecutors of engaging in instances of “evidence tampering” and “witness intimidation”.
It also alleges that their prosecution was “corrupt and politically motivated.”
The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Justice, which is currently operating under the Trump administration and is run by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The BBC has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
According to figures released by the department in January, approximately 1,583 defendants have been charged with crimes associated with the Capitol riot.
More than 600 were charged with assaulting, resisting or obstructing law enforcement, including around 175 charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.
Capitol Police officers were attacked by rioters with weapons including metal batons, wooden planks, flagpoles, fire extinguishers and pepper spray.
Many lawmakers had condemned the riot, while Trump has described it as a “day of love”.
His pardons of those convicted have been criticised by Democratic lawmakers as an attempt to re-write history.
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was among the lawmakers forced to flee during the riot, called the pardons “an outrageous insult to our justice system”. (BBC News)
