The NAACP and a Washington, D.C. civil rights law firm filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and two right-wing groups for violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act.
Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi filed a 32-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., saying Trump conspired with Giuliani and others to spark the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who are named in the lawsuit, are accused of participating in the violence against Congress in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act.
The lawsuit said, “The statute was enacted in response to violence and intimidation in which the Ku Klux Klan and other organizations were engaged during that time period. The defendants conspired to prevent, by force, intimidation and threats, the plaintiff, as a member of Congress, from discharging his official duties to approve the count of votes cast by members of the Electoral College following the presidential election held in November 2020.” NAACP President Derrick Johnson added that Trump inspired White supremacist groups to take action against lawmakers, saying Trump’s efforts sought “to disenfranchise African-American voters” by claiming there was massive voter fraud in locations that had large Black and minority populations.
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