Capitol police say Trump to blame for Jan. 6 attack in Washington, lawsuit alleges

Several members of the U.S. Capitol Police say ex-President Donald Trump and others conspired to ‘violently attack” the facility on Jan. 6, according to a lawsuit.

Police suffered physical and emotional harm in the attack designed to stop the election, the cops contend.

They specifically targeted the former president for his words and the lack of support he offered as the U.S. Capitol was under attack.

“Defendants must be held accountable,” the cops argue. “Plaintiffs file this complaint to do just that, and to help ensure that what took place on January 6 never happens again.”

The suit was filed on Aug. 26 in a Washington D.C. federal court and names several officers as the plaintiffs. There are a host of defendants in the case, including Trump, the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and numerous other defendants.

The suit alleges the defendants used force, intimidation and threats to prevent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris from taking the office of President and Vice President after the 2020 election.

The defendant’s efforts began in November 2020 when the election results started to roll in, according to the filing.

“Trump, in concert with other defendants, deliberately and persistently made and encouraged false claims of election fraud to discredit the outcome of the election and disingenuously incite outrage among his supporters,” the suit read.

Officers allege Trump encouraged and supported acts of violence against those who were critical of the Republican president.

The suit alleges Trump’s calls and defendants, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, planned to carry out a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and the police defending it. The defendants continued to spread conspiracies that the election was stolen from Trump, the suit alleged.

A large crowd formed on Jan. 6 and attacked and overwhelmed the capitol police, according to the suit. They also raided the Capitol to stop Congress from counting the electoral votes.

“Defendants’ conspiratorial acts directly resulted in violence against the Capitol and the police officers who defended it,” the suit read.

Rioters broke through barricades and breached the Capitol building, according to the filing. They shattered windows with the shields ripped from the police offices, the suit added.

“They laid siege to the House Chamber, where police officers, members of Congress, staffers and workers in the House Rostrum were forced to don gas masks and barricade themselves in fear for their lives,” the filing states.

Any defendants who did not participate in the violent acts “provoked it, encouraged it, planned for it, used it to further their conspiratorial goals, ratified it and failed to take any action to stop it,” the suit contends.

Trump, specifically, encouraged the use of force to stop the count on Jan. 6, the suit alleged. He followed the attack on television and social media and refused to call off the attackers for hours, the police claimed.

“Trump and his con-conspirators contacted members of Congress, not to offer support or protection, but to pressure them to delay further and stop the Congressional count,” the police alleged. “Even after the attackers — including white supremacists and hate groups — were finally repelled and cleared from the Capitol, Trump ratified their attack and praised them, telling them, ‘We love you. You’re very special,’ and to ‘Remember this day forever!’”

The attackers injured the police and caused millions of dollars in damage to the building, the lawsuit alleges.

“Defendants also committed vias-motivated acts of terrorism and other torts in violation of District of Columbia law,” the lawsuit contends.

The police suffered physical, psychological and emotional injuries as a result of the riot, the suit states. The Capitol officers who filed the lawsuit asked for an unspecified amount of money and for a jury trial on their allegations.