Rep. Bennie Thompson targets Trump, Giuliani, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in Capitol riot lawsuit

"I am privileged to partner with the NAACP to have my day in court so that the perpetrators of putting members of Congress at risk can be held accountable," Thompson told reporters.

By Alex Nitzberg

Rep. Bennie Thompson is targeting former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers in a suit alleging that they conspired to incite the violence that transpired at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the long-serving Mississippi Democrat by the NAACP and the Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll law firm claims that the defendants broke the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by attempting to meddle in Congress's certification of the Electoral College count, according to NPR.

"The insurrection at the Capitol was a direct, intended, and foreseeable result of the Defendants' unlawful conspiracy," the lawsuit claims. "It was instigated according to a common plan that the Defendants pursued since the election held in November 2020."

According to the outlet, Thompson told reporters on Tuesday: "I am privileged to partner with the NAACP to have my day in court so that the perpetrators of putting members of Congress at risk can be held accountable."

Trump was acquitted on Saturday in his Senate impeachment trial in a 57-43 vote. While a majority of senators voted that the former commander-in-chief was guilty regarding the single article of impeachment that was passed by the House last month during Trump's waning days in office, the 57 guilty votes failed to clear the two-thirds supermajority required to secure a conviction.