Lawsuit against Trump citing Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 could be last chance to hold him accountable, plaintiffs say

In Lee, et al. v. Trump, plaintiffs seek justice for President Donald Trump’s alleged actions on Jan. 6, 2021, that led to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Current and former members of Congress and police officers impacted by the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, returned to federal court in Washington, D.C., on Friday for a civil case that is seen as the last legal recourse to hold Donald Trump accountable for his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

During Friday’s hearing for Lee, et al. v. Trump, the plaintiffs argued against President Trump’s legal claim that his actions leading up to the riot that killed five and injured nearly 200 police officers are protected by presidential immunity.

Backed by the NAACP as co-counsel in the case, the plaintiffs argue that Trump conspired with right-wing extremist groups Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and others at a rally Trump hosted on Jan. 6, yards away from the White House, to prevent lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional duties and certify the 2020 election results.

“The rule of law means nothing if it does not apply equally, including to those who once held the highest office in the land,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “January 6th was not only an attack on Congress, it was also an attack on the voting rights of millions of Americans. The courts remain the only independent venue capable of establishing a factual, apolitical record of what occurred. We believe in this process, and we believe accountability will prevail.”

The case is being brought against Trump under the Ku Klux Klan Act, passed by Congress in 1871 during the Reconstruction Era, with the intent to combat the violence and intimidation faced by Black Americans and their white allies in the South. Following the Civil War, Black voters in the South came out in droves to the ballot box, electing a record number of Black Americans to Congress. However, that progress was undone by racial terror and intimidation, as well as the enactment of Jim Crow laws to suppress Black progress.

“This lawsuit is based on no one is above the law within the context of the legal framework of the [Ku Klux] Klan Act, which dates back to the time when there were those in this country who did not want Black people to have a voice or vote in Congress,” former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, the lead plaintiff in the case, told theGrio.

Lee, who is now the Mayor of Oakland, noted that the alleged actions to subvert the will of voters, particularly Black voters whose counties were targeted by the Trump campaign in states like Georgia and Philadelphia, were “another form of voter suppression” and an attempt to “deny Black people, Brown people, poor people, the right to vote.”

“We are quickly approaching the fifth anniversary of that devastating day, yet we have not seen any accountability for the president, the Proud Boys, and others who we allege were primarily responsible for the attack on our Capitol,” said Demon Hewitt, president and executive director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, who is representing law enforcement officers a part of the class action lawsuit.

Hewitt added, “Instead, we’ve seen more than 1,500 pardons, politicians repositioning themselves to be apologists for the insurrectionists, and even the glorification of those involved.”

Former Congresswoman Lee was on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as thousands of Trump supporters rampaged the U.S. Capitol, as she and her colleagues worked to certify the 2020 presidential election results. She and her colleagues hid away with their staff, fearing for their lives. The Oakland mayor said she thought a lot about the officers who risked their lives to protect members of Congress.

“We know what has happened with them, and so many are still traumatized,” she shared with theGrio.

Lee said Trump attempted to subvert the will of the American people, comparing him to the many dictators of the world.

“We see what dictators do abroad, and I’ve been to many countries, and I know how dictators operate. I know the signs and his behavior and his policies are tracking,” said the 79-year-old politician. “I think the signs are very clear here as to what his motives are, and he’s doing that through the policies and through his appointments and through his many ways of dismantling government.”

Despite what Trump’s critics describe as his attempts to change the narrative about Jan. 6, including pardoning all defendants charged for their actions and characterizing the riot as a peaceful protest, Lee said, “We know what happened on Jan. 6.”

“The judiciary is the last resort that we have in this country to protect individuals and to protect our democracy,” she added. “No one, again, no one is above the law.”