Five leaders of the far-right paramilitary group the Proud Boys filed a $100 million lawsuit against the federal government on Friday, claiming violations of their civil rights.
Four of those leaders, Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, and Joe Biggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to block certification of President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss. The fifth, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on other serious felonies.
Trump commuted their sentences the same day he was sworn into the White House, as part of his clemency for almost 1,600 January 6 rioters.
But that clemency isn't enough for the Proud Boys officials, whose so-called "Western Chauvinist" group is infamous for their political street brawls. They want compensation for what they claim to be illegal mistreatment.
"What follows is a parade of horribles: egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal," stated the lawsuit. "Through the use of evidence tampering, witness intimidation, violations of attorney-client privilege, and placing spies to report on trial strategy, the government got its fondest wish of imprisoning the J6 Defendants, the modern equivalent of placing one’s enemies' heads on a spike outside the town wall as a warning to any who would think to challenge the status quo."
"Now that the Plaintiffs are vindicated, free, and able to once again exercise their rights as American citizens, they bring this action against their tormentors for violations of their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment Rights," the suit continued.
It remains unclear what, if any, evidence the Proud Boys could bring in support of these claims. However, it is also possible that Trump or Attorney General Pam Bondi could simply order the Justice Department to reach a settlement and pay out some fraction of that $100 million at taxpayer expense without a judgment being rendered at trial; this same approach was taken with the lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the January 6 rioter who was fatally shot by Capitol Police while trying to force her way into an area where members of Congress were evacuating.
