The NAACP has filed a federal lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump and his attorney Rudi Giuliani of inciting the U.S. Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday morning in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., by the NAACP and civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll on behalf of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). Other members of Congress, including Representatives Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), intend to join the litigation as plaintiffs in the coming days and weeks.

“January 6 was one of the most shameful days in our country’s history, and it was instigated by the president himself. His gleeful support of violent White supremacists led to a breach of the Capitol that put my life, and that of my colleagues, in grave danger. It is by the slimmest of luck that the outcome was not deadlier. 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. Failure to do so will only invite this type of authoritarianism for the anti-democratic forces on the far right that are so intent on destroying our country,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss).

“Donald Trump needs to be held accountable for deliberately inciting and colluding with White supremacists to stage a coup, in his continuing efforts to disenfranchise African American voters. 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. We are now bringing this case to continue our work to protect our democracy and make sure nothing like what happened on January 6 ever happens again,” said Derrick Johnson, president/CEO, NAACP.