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D.C. Attorney General Sues Proud Boys, Oath Keepers Over Capitol Insurrection
- Client News
- December 14, 2021
Practices
As reported in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, CBS News and other leading news media, Paul, Weiss, alongside co-counsel States United Democracy Center, the Anti-Defamation League and Dechert LLP, is representing D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine in a federal lawsuit to hold the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers accountable for their role in planning and carrying out the deadly January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The civil lawsuit—the first by a government entity against the January 6 insurrectionists—seeks to recover damages for the substantial costs the District incurred as a result of the attack, particularly the physical and emotional injuries suffered by officers in the District’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).
The D.C. Attorney General’s lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., claims that the two violent groups, their leaders and dozens of high-profile members caused extensive damage to the District, and particularly to the law enforcement officers who risked their lives to defend the Capitol. The complaint details how the groups planned, recruited, publicized, funded and carried out a coordinated violent attack intended to interfere with the functioning of government and overturn a lawful election—including breaking through police barricades, forcing their way into the Capitol building, terrorizing members of Congress and their staffs, and brutally assaulting those who tried to stop them, including MPD officers.
This is the third civil lawsuit this year against violent white nationalist groups in which Paul, Weiss is serving as pro bono co-counsel. The firm recently won over $25 million in damages on behalf of individuals who were injured in the violence during the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Paul, Weiss also represents the historic Metropolitan AME Church in an ongoing lawsuit against the Proud Boys for trespass and damages relating to the destruction of a banner on Church property supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Paul, Weiss team includes litigation partners Daniel Kramer, Jeannie Rhee and Andrew Ehrlich, counsel Jonathan Hurwitz, and associates Erin Morgan, Timothy Beavers, Kasturi Mitra, Katarina Broeksmit, Alexandra Gordon, Jane Zhou, Aaron Nathan, Mo Light, Chih-wei Wu and Yishai Schwartz.