A group of participants in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot has filed a class action lawsuit in Florida seeking $18 million from the federal government for alleged injuries. The suit, led by former Proud Boys member Alan E. Fischer, accuses Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police of using excessive force without warning. It comes after President Donald Trump pardoned around 1,500 rioters last year.
Alan E. Fischer, who faced felony charges for pushing against officers and throwing objects at police during the riot, leads the lawsuit alongside Patrick and Marie Sullivan. The plaintiffs claim the crowd was mostly peaceful until police began shooting. The case was filed in the U.S. Middle District of Florida, where U.S. District Judge Paul Byron, an Obama appointee, has been assigned to preside over it. Fischer previously attempted a similar suit in Washington, D.C., but it failed after his pardon last year freed him from trial on those charges. The suit alleges that officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department violated D.C. law by failing to warn protesters before using force and exposing them to unreasonable risks. Dennis Fan, a former DOJ prosecutor and Columbia Law School professor, noted that police actions in crowd control involve discretion, with no fixed playbook for defending the Capitol amid assaults. Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police officer who testified to Congress, said rioters initiated the violence that day. The events led to injuries for 140 officers, the death of Officer Brian Sicknick from a stroke after being pepper-sprayed, and at least one other officer's suicide. Over 725 people were arrested, with nearly 230 charged for assaulting law enforcement. The Justice Department has settled related claims before, paying $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot while trying to breach a barricade, and $1.25 million to Michael Flynn over a prior prosecution.
