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Headline Roundup February 16th, 2021

Lawmaker Sues Trump Over Capitol Violence

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) claimed that former President Donald Trump incited insurrection and attempted to overthrow the 2020 presidential election in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. The suit, which also names Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and right-wing group The Proud Boys, says Trump sparked the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6 and conspired to disrupt certification of the election. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and was brought against Trump and the others under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. The NAACP filed the suit on Thompson's behalf. Trump and his legal team have maintained that he did not incite or conspire to incite the violence at the Capitol. The story was covered more prominently by left- and center-rated sources. Some coverage from left-rated outlets focused more on the case against Trump; some reports from right-rated outlets explained Trump's defense more thoroughly.

Featured Coverage of this Story

House Democrat Sues Trump, Giuliani And 2 Far-Right Groups Over Capitol Riot
House Democrat Sues Trump, Giuliani And 2 Far-Right Groups Over Capitol Riot

NPR (Online News)

News

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson is suing former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and two far-right groups — the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers — for allegedly conspiring to incite the deadly violence on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

The lawsuit, filed on Thompson's behalf by the NAACP and the civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, accuses Trump and the other defendants of violating the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act by trying to interfere in Congress' certification of the Electoral College count. The legislation was part...

Open on NPR (Online News)
NAACP, House Democrat Sues Trump and Giuliani After Jan. 6 Capitol Breach
NAACP, House Democrat Sues Trump and Giuliani After Jan. 6 Capitol Breach

The Epoch Times

News

A top House Democrat and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sued former President Donald Trump and attorney Rudy Giuliani over their respective speeches to supporters on Jan. 6.

“While the majority of Republicans in the Senate abdicated their responsibility to hold the president accountable, we must hold him accountable for the insurrection that he so blatantly planned,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said in a statement. “Failure to do so will only invite this type of authoritarianism for the anti-democratic forces on the far right that...

Open on The Epoch Times
Dem’s lawsuit accuses Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riot
Dem’s lawsuit accuses Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riot

Associated Press Fact Check

News

The House Homeland Security chairman accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.

The lawsuit from Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson is part of an expected wave of litigation over the Jan. 6 riot and is believed to be the first filed by a member of Congress. It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. It also...

Open on Associated Press Fact Check

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