Democratic congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi accused Donald Trump in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of inciting the deadly insurrection in January at the U.S. Capitol.
He also accused Trump of conspiring with his lawyer and extremist groups to try to prevent the Senate from certifying the results of the presidential election he lost to Joe Biden.
The lawsuit also names as defendants the former president’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and groups including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
The suit, filed in federal court in Washington under a Reconstruction-era law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, comes three days after Trump was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial that centered on allegations that he incited the riot, in which five people died. That acquittal is likely to open the door to fresh legal scrutiny over Trump’s actions before and during the siege.
Trump told supporters at a rally preceding the riot to “ fight like hell,” but lawyers for the former president adamantly denied during the impeachment trial that he had incited the riot.
They pointed to a remark during his speech in which he told the crowd to behave “peacefully” that day.
Frigid temperatures and frosty winds greeted Twin Cities residents, who ventured outside during our recent record-breaking cold snap. On Valentine’s Day the high only reached three below before sinking to a bitter 18 below zero in St. Paul, according to the National Weather Service.
The cold streak broke a Twin Cities record low temperature for February 13th, which dated back to 1909, according to weather service records.
But heavy winter attire may not be needed for long.
Weather service forecasts show a sharp rebound in the upcoming days. Next Monday, temperatures are expected to rise to highs near 35 degrees.
Nineteen positive COVID-19 cases were reported last week by St. Thomas’ Center for Well-Being, breaking a three week case decline.
Fourteen cases were reported from students and five from employees. The St. Paul campus had 18 cases, and the Minneapolis campus had one.
Lauren Dettmer can be reached at lauren.dettmer@stthomas.edu.