Today, the NAACP National Office filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mississippi Congressman Bennie Thompson against Donald J. Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and Oath Keepers for their role in inciting a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, aimed at preventing Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election.
The violent attack on the Capitol almost cost us our democracy, and there must be consequences. Trump needs to be held accountable for deliberately inciting and colluding with white supremacists to stage a coup.
In the months leading up to the insurrection, he and Giuliani allegedly mobilized and prepared supporters for an attack. In fact, Trump acknowledged the potential for violence and bloodshed if the election results were not overturned, tweeting: “People are upset, and they have a right to be. Georgia not only supported Trump in 2016, but now. This is the only State in the Deep South that went for Biden? Have they lost their minds? This is going to escalate dramatically. This is a very dangerous moment in our history....”
The insurrection was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated, months-long plan to destroy democracy, to block the results of a fair and democratic election, and to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of African-American voters who cast valid ballots. Since our founding, the NAACP has gone to the courthouse to put an end to actions that discriminate against African-American voters, and this time will be no different.
We are bringing this case to court to continue our work protecting our democracy and making sure nothing like what happened on January 6th ever happens again.