Former US President Donald Trump can be held civilly responsible for the assault carried out by his supporters against the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021, the federal courts have decided.
This decision by a court of appeal in Washington was made public on Friday – confirming information from the Washington Post – following civil complaints in 2021 from two police officers from the Capitol, seat of Congress, and around ten parliamentarians of the Democratic Party.
This long ruling by the federal courts is itself subject to appeal.
On January 6, 2021 in the American capital, Donald Trump, defeated in the November 2020 election by Democrat Joe Biden, gave a fiery speech to his supporters, calling on them to “fight like hell” against the results that the elected representatives of Congress were to certify that day.
Two weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Biden, on January 20, 2021, thousands of supporters of the Republican president sowed chaos and violence in the Capitol.
More than 1,000 people have since been arrested and some 350 of them have been charged with assaulting police officers or refusing to comply with their arrest. Some members of far-right militias have even been convicted of sedition.
Civil plaintiffs against Donald Trump rely on Washington Post on a 150-year-old law that prohibits the use of force, threats and intimidation to prevent an elected official or civil servant from fulfilling his or her office.
The plaintiffs are entitled to seek reparations from the Republican billionaire for damages caused on January 6, 2021, according to the District of Columbia Court of Appeal in Washington.
The former tenant of the White House, who dreams of returning there in January 2025, but who faces several legal proceedings, has assured for two years that the election of Joe Biden was “piped and stolen”, denounces a “witch hunt” and a “political use” of justice against him.
Donald Trump, who was still President of the United States on January 6, 2021, highlights his presidential “immunity” at the time.
The court “rejects” and “answers no, at least at this stage of the procedure”.
“When a sitting president opts for a second term, his campaign to be re-elected is not an official presidential gesture,” according to the justice.
In July, Mr. Trump revealed that special federal prosecutor Jack Smith was targeting him personally in his criminal investigation into January 6.
