Karl A. Racine, a Democrat who serves as the D.C. Attorney General, has filed a lawsuit against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, two militia groups he says are responsible for the violent attack attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Today, we’re holding these insurrectionists accountable for conspiring to terrorize the District by planning, promoting, and participating in the deadly attack on the Capitol,” Racine said at a Tuesday press conference.
Racine is attempting to invoke the so-called ‘Ku Klux Klan Act’ to extract financial penalties from the two far-right entities. The law – originally created in the wake of the Civil War and since modernized – is designed to protect government officials carrying out their duties. It’s also viewed as a vehicle to ensure civil rights.
The law was recently deployed against several white supremacist groups that planned the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Last month, those groups were ordered to pay more than $25 million in damages.
The Washington Post reports:
Racine said the goal of the Jan. 6 lawsuit is “full restitution and recompense” for the city of Washington, which has incurred huge costs for treating hundreds of injured officers. “I think the damages are substantial,” he said in a phone interview. “If it so happens that it bankrupts or puts these individuals and entities in financial peril, so be it.”
The lawsuit calls the attack on the Capitol “a coordinated act of domestic terrorism.” It outlines steps individual members of the militias took to foment violence and assault law enforcement personnel.
A group of D.C. police officers filed a similar lawsuit against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers; so has Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS). But Racine’s suit is the first filed by a government agency.
“I’m particularly interested in understanding the financial apparatus of these individuals and entities and where the money came from,” Racine told The Post.
