Capitol Officers Sue Trump, Far-Right Groups Over Jan. 6 Attack

WASHINGTON, DC — Seven officers from the U.S. Capitol Police filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, his longtime adviser Roger Stone and members of far-right extremist groups, alleging they conspired to use violence on Jan. 6 to attempt to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges Trump conspired with Stone and a host of group with ties to the insurrection and the events leading up to it, including the organizers of the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the attack and far-right groups such as the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and the Three Percenters.

The lawsuit, Smith et. al. v. Trump et. al., was filed by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of the seven veteran U.S. Capitol Police officers.

“As this lawsuit makes clear, the Jan. 6 insurrection was not just an attack on individuals, but an attack on democracy itself,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

For months after the 2020 election, Trump and his associates made coordinated and systematic attempts to lodge false claims of election fraud, targeted toward major cities with significant populations of voters of color, according to the lawsuit.

“The lies of this conspiracy intentionally energized white supremacists and violent extremist groups and actively encouraged them to coordinate the violent attack on the Capitol,” Hewitt said. “These actions put our clients in harm’s way to defend the votes and voices the conspiracy was intended to silence.”

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The seven plaintiffs collectively have over 150 years of service protecting Congress. On Jan. 6, they endured hours of hand-to-hand combat as attackers spat on them, tear-gassed them, bear-sprayed them, beat them, tackled them and hurled racial slurs and epithets at them, they said.

The plaintiffs are Conrad Smith, a 32-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police; Danny McElroy, a 32-year veteran of the Capitol Police; Byron Evans, a 16-year veteran of the Capitol Police; Governor Latson, a 35-year veteran of the Capitol Police; Melissa Marshall, a 13-year veteran of the Capitol Police; Michael Fortune, a 13-year veteran of the Capitol Police and Jason DeRoche, an 18-year veteran of the Capitol Police.

Along with Trump associate Stone, the lawsuit names as defendants Ali Alexander, also known as Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar and Ali Abdul Akbar, a national organizer for and leader of the Stop the Steal LLC organization; and Brandon J. Straka, a promoter for the Stop the Steal event and one of those charged in connection with the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Among the Northern Virginia residents identified as defendants in the lawsuit is Thomas E. Caldwell, 66, of Berryville who conspired with the far-right Oath Keepers and others to plan and participate in the Capitol attack, according to the lawsuit.

Shortly after the Capitol attack, law enforcement officials found a “death list” in Caldwell's home office in Berryville that included the name and location of an elections official, according to the lawsuit. Caldwell is active in Republican Party politics in Clarke County.

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Members of the Oath Keepers coordinated to form “quick reaction forces” so additional weaponry and firearms could quickly be brought to the Capitol after the attack on the Capitol. Caldwell and others informed Oath Keepers members of the availability of these weapons, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that in one message, Caldwell told an Oath Keepers member that others were “committed to being the quick reaction force anf [sic] bringing the tools if something goes to hell. That way the boys don’t have to try to schlep weps [weapons] on the bus.”

The plaintiffs and many of their colleagues have suffered significant physical, psychological and emotional injuries that persist almost nine months after the assault on the Capitol, according to the lawsuit.

“We joined the Capitol Police to uphold the law and protect the Capitol community,” the seven plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “On Jan. 6 we tried to stop people from breaking the law and destroying our democracy. Since then our jobs and those of our colleagues have become infinitely more dangerous. We want to do what we can to make sure the people who did this are held accountable and that no one can do this again.”

The acts of Trump and the other defendants in the lawsuit violated two provisions of the federal Ku Klux Klan Act, which forbids conspiracies to use force, intimidation and threats to prevent federal officers from doing their jobs or to injure them in the course of their work, according to the lawsuit.

Their actions also amounted to politically motivated acts of domestic terrorism and incitement to riot, which violated the District of Columbia Bias-Related Crimes Act, the lawsuit states. The defendants also aided and abetted assault and battery on Capitol Police officers, in violation of D.C. law, the suit claims.

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