U.S. government called upon to provide reparations by human rights advocates
You Wanna Sue the Government, Huh? The Proud Boys' $100M Lawsuit
Fancy a legal wrangle? Five Proud Boys members, including the group's notorious ringleader Enrique Tarrio, have thrown down the gauntlet, pulling out all the stops to sue the U.S. government for a whopping $100 million. They claim their constitutional rights took a hammering from ol' law enforcement during their Capitol storming prosecution.
These fellows see themselves as victims of political persecution. They're pointing fingers at the FBI and the Department of Justice, accusing them of systematically abusing the legal system and the U.S. Constitution to dish out punishment to Trump supporters — as stated in their lawsuit, which has been quoted by several media outlets. They allege some downright sketchy business, such as manipulated evidence, intimidated witnesses, and spied-on lawyers to secure those hefty prison sentences.
Remember five-and-a-half years ago when fans of then-President Trump busted the charts, assaulting the parliamentary seat in Washington? Congress was gathering to confirm the triumph of Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election against Trump. After weeks of encouragement from Trump himself, the man claimed victory through fraud. That brawl resulted in five unfortunate casualties.
Some of those troublemakers were charged with less serious offenses, like unlawful entry, resisting officers, smashing windows, destroying or looting items in the building. But others, such as this group, were convicted of severe crimes, like beating cops with sticks, metal rods, or fists, or having planned the attack for an extended period to wreck the power transfer.
Though Tarrio wasn't on the scene, he directed his troops from behind the scenes. His folks showed up at the Capitol, all geared up for combat and ready to rumble. Tarrio was convicted of multiple charges, including "seditious conspiracy," earning him a 22-year stretch in the slammer. That's the harshest sentence of the lot — a murderer's row in U.S. legal history.
Trump then practically waved a magic wand, pardoning all the Capitol stormers at the beginning of his second term. Many key players were released just hours after his inauguration — and they lapped it up. "Trump has literally given me my life back," Tarrio gleefully declared.
But what Trump did by releasing violent criminals who clobbered cops and, at his urging, tried to halt the peaceful transition of power in the U.S., was a one-of-a-kind move. As Professor Matthew Dallek of George Washington University put it in the Washington Post, "A comparison (between the defendants and the government) would suggest that the violence on January 6th was entirely justified." That'd send the signal that these Proud Boys, found guilty in a fair trial, were unfairly punished and are the victims. That flips the whole narrative.
What's at stake in this lawsuit filed by the Proud Boys against the U.S. government for $100 million? The group, including Enrique Tarrio, alleges political persecution, machinations within policy-and-legislation, and abuse of the legal system, specifically in relation to the FBI and the Department of Justice. This comes amidst accusations of manipulated evidence, intimidated witnesses, and spied-on lawyers during their Capitol storming prosecution, which falls under the categories of general-news and crime-and-justice.
