Former President Trump had another lawsuit filed against him by another Capitol police officer in January of 2022. The then new lawsuit alleged that he “directed” and “aided” the officers’ assault on Jan. 6, just two days before the one-year anniversary of the incident.
Capitol Police Officer Marcus J. Moore, a 10-year member of the force, filed the case against Trump in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, citing the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The Klan Act makes it illegal for federal authorities to use intimidation to keep them from doing their duty.
Patrick Malone & Associates of Washington, D.C., and the Protect Democracy Foundation filed the lawsuit on Moore’s behalf.
Moore claimed that the rioters who stormed the Capitol were “spurred on” by Trump’s behavior over a period of months, during which he asserted without evidence that the 2020 presidential election will be marred by voting fraud.
“The insurrectionist mob, which Trump had inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted, forced its way over and past Plaintiff and his fellow officers, pursuing and attacking them inside and outside the United States Capitol, and causing the injuries complained of herein,” the suit stated.
His lawsuit cites several instances after the Nov. 3, 2020, election and up until Jan. 6, when he claims Trump appeared to condone or fail to openly denounce violent acts in relation to the election. The list included the now-famous moment when Trump instructed the far-right Proud Boys organization to “stand back and stand by” during a nationally televised presidential debate.
According to the lawsuit, Moore was not meant to arrive at work on Jan. 6 but was told to come in one day early. Moore did not leave the Capitol until 17 hours later, despite reporting at 5:30 a.m.
Moore said in the suit that it appeared that the rioters already knew which Capitol windows were not reinforced, as they walked passed windows that had been strengthened with metal and bomb-resistant glass just a few years before.
Moore said he stood outside the House rooms as the mob gathered outside after the Capitol was breached. The officers shoved Moore against a wall after the crowd realized how near they were to the House chambers, he said.
Moore is seeking punitive damages in excess of $75,000 against Trump, as well as additional costs.
“Our client suffered physical and psychological wounds as the result of insurrectionists incited by the former president to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power,” attorney Patrick Malone said in a statement.
This wasn’t the first time that police officers who guarded the Capitol on Jan. 6 haf filed a lawsuit against Trump. Seven other Capitol Police officers sued Trump and other right-wing personalities in August of 2021, alleging that they collaborated with groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers to commit domestic terrorism.
Why are we bringing this back up today though? Considering that Trump has announced this candidacy for 2024, he will go into that election year with more investigations to his name than anyone else in the country’s history. This lawsuit was the start of the 2022 downward spiral for Trump and his lawyers.
But why this one. Well everything before this lawsuit was still up in the air. It took almost a full year to comprehend the magnitude of January 6th, 2020, and we’re still getting more information about it today. But this lawsuit is the nexus point where it all changed.
We’ll see how Trump fairs in 2023 and beyond, but given what has transpired in the last 15 months, it continues to look downhill from here.
