Filed Date: Aug. 26, 2021
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
This case was filed by U.S. Capitol Police Officers who defended the capitol during the January 6, 2021 insurrection. The Officers sued numerous individuals involved with the riot, including Donald Trump, the leaders of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, American Phoenix Project, and Three Percenters. This case is part of a Clearinghouse Special Collection on January 6 Civil Cases.
On August 26, 2021, a group of seven U.S. Capitol Police officers brought this civil suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Donald J. Trump, his 2020 campaign organization, Stop the Steal, the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and other individuals who the complaint alleges bear primary responsibility for the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ made several false claims of election fraud, counted the white nationalist Proud Boys, excited the crowd at the rally, and then refused to make any effort to call off the attackers. They allege the Defendants deliberately spread false claims about the 2020 election to incite violence from groups like the Proud Boys in order to prevent Congress from carrying out its duty to certify the election results. The complaint alleges that the Defendants violated 42 U.S.C. § 1985(1) (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act), 42 U.S.C. § 1986 for failure to prevent conspiracy, D.C. Code § 22-3704(a) (“Bias-Related Crimes Act of 1989” or “BRCA”) for persons injured as a result of an act demonstrating prejudice, battery, assault, and negligence. Plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees in their request for relief. Plaintiffs were represented by Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and received later assistance from Selendy Gay PLLC and Kenny Nachwalter, P.A. in subsequent filings.
On October 5, defendant Zachary Rehl moved to strike “immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter” under FRCP 12(f), arguing that reference to the Ku Klux Klan Act was inflammatory and prejudicial, and that it sought to deceive the potential jurors in the District of Columbia, who are largely minorities and Democratic voters. Rehl supplemented their October 5 motion the next day, with evidence of the Congressional record of 42 U.S.C. § 1985 showing the KKK was not contemplated in the name. Rehl filed a second supplement October 8, arguing that allegations of white supremacy and racism were false because certain Defendants are Black and/or Middle Eastern, and leaders of organizational Defendants like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are also Black or non-white.
On October 14, 2021 Defendant Brandon J. Straka filed a motion to dismiss under FRCP 12(b)(1) and (6). Straka argued that any counts against him were based on protected political advocacy and his actions did not rise to the level of Brandenberg imminence and likelihood for violence. He also argued that the complaint failed to adequately plead BRCA violation, conspiracy, battery, assault, and negligence allegations against him.
On December 10, 2021, Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, adding an eighth U.S. Capitol Police Officer, and added the Make America Great Again PAC. This amended complaint added more detail about the Proud Boys’ creation and involvement in the planning for the rally and attack, including facts about specific members and the organization as a whole. It also alleged that Donald Trump in his personal capacity could have prevented or aided in preventing the acts in question through his campaign, rhetoric, and attorneys.
On November 12, 2021, Defendants Nordean, Mele, Stone, Kinnison, Meggs, and jointly Trump and Trump for President, filed six motions to dismiss. Each argued a lack of standing to allege injury by the Plaintiffs, lack of conspiracy and/or involvement in a conspiracy, Capitol Police are not "officers of the United States" under § 1985(1) because they are controlled by a congressional rather than Executive entity, D.C. is not a "State or Territory" under § 1985(1), insufficient pleading under the BRCA, affirmative defenses under the First Amendment, insufficient pleading for negligence, battery, and assault. Trump further argued that he had absolute presidential immunity, that these claims were barred by res judicata from his impeachment proceedings, and lack of personal jurisdiction. Trump defendants filed a second motion to dismiss to address the amended complaint, and reasserted the same grounds.
On July 27, 2022, President Trump filed a motion to stay the case pending resolution of his absolute immunity defense in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. President Trump had previously been sued in his personal capacity for his actions on January 6, and in all cases had argued that he was absolutely immune to civil charges for actions he undertook in his capacity as President of the United States. Three cases were pending in the D.C. Circuit Court: Blassingame v. Trump; Thompson v. Trump' and Swalwell v. Trump.
On January 26, 2023, the Court issued an order and memorandum addressing the motions to dismiss. The Court rejected the lack of standing arguments made by Stone, Mele, Nordean, and Kinnison under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1985. The Court also rejected First Amendment defenses to Trump, Nordean, Rehl, Kinnison, Martinez, and Mele. The Court rejected the intracorporate conspiracy bar to the defendants who were also members of the Proud Boys and/or Oath Keepers. The claims for assault and battery were not dismissed. However, the Court granted dismissal under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1986 as failing to plead sufficient facts. The claims under the BRCA, negligence and injunctive relief were dismissed as to all defendants. Overall, Count I (§ 1985(1)) survived as to almost every defendant, but for Straka, Stone, and Alexander. Count II (§ 1986), Count III (BRCA), and Count VI (negligence) were dismissed as to all defendants. Counts IV and V (battery/assault) survived as to individual organizers but were dismissed as to the Trump Campaign, Stone, and Alexander. Judge Mehta also denied President Trump's claim of absolute immunity as president. 2023 WL 417952. Straka, having only battery and assault claims remaining against him, was dismissed for lack of supplemental jurisdiction on October 12, 2023.
President Trump appealed the dismissal of his immunity defense to the D.C. Circuit, which denied his appeal as premature on December 29, 2023. 2023 WL 9016458.
On February 8, 2023, Rehl moved for summary judgment on the grounds of the Professional Rescuer Doctrine, arguing that Plaintiffs sustained only on-the-job injuries. On September 5, 2023, the Court denied Rehl’s motion on procedural grounds as Rehl had not amended his answer to the complaint to plead this affirmative defense.
On February 16, 2024, the D.C. Circuit ordered that defendant Trump must be afforded the opportunity to resolve his immunity defense before discovery could proceed. Blassingame v. Trump, 87 F.4th 1, 29 (D.C. Cir. 2023).
On February 16, 2024, this case was consolidated with Lee v. Trump with respect to the claims against President Trump. Follow the consolidated action on the Clearinghouse here.
On July 19, 2024, plaintiffs, in conjunction with the District of Columbia, moved for partial summary judgment to establish that Defendants conspired to prevent members of Congress and/or the United States Capitol Police from carrying out their duties and/or to leave the place where their duties were required to be performed as part of Count I (§ 1985(1)) against Biggs, Meggs, Nordean, Pezzola, Rehl, and Tarrio based on collateral estoppel. Each of these named defendants had been criminally convicted in connection with their activities at or around the U.S. Capitol January 6, 2021. On March 5, 2025 the Court denied the partial summary judgment motion, finding that the § 1985(1) conspiracy was broader than the criminal convictions, thus summary judgment was not appropriate.
On October 17, 2025, the Court denied defendant Mele’s motion for summary judgment, holding that this was also premature because discovery was not yet complete. 2025 WL 2943722.
On December 18, 2025, plaintiffs voluntarily dropped all charges without prejudice against defendant Ronald Mele (a member of the Three Percenters Militia).
The following month, on January 26, 2026, plaintiffs moved for the sanction of a default judgment against defendants Felipe Antonio "Tony" Martinez, Derek Kinnison, Ethan Nordean, and Joseph Biggs for failing to comply with court orders. Martinez and Kinnison were Three Percenters, Nordean and Biggs were Proud Boys.
Judge Mehta granted in part and denied in part plaintiffs motion for sanctions on February 14, 2026. Default judgment was granted against defendants Martinez, Nordean, and Biggs with respect to all plaintiffs' claims, but was denied as to defendant Kinnison because he informed the court he would participate in the litigation.
On March 13, 2026, plaintiffs voluntarily dropped charges against defendant Alan Hostetter, a member of the American Phoenix Project. On March 16, 2026, defendants Nordean and Biggs moved to set aside the default judgment.
On March 25, 2026, plaintiffs filed another motion for the sanction of a default judgment against defendant Erik Scott Warner - a Three Percenter.
A few days later, plaintiff Karen Bass was voluntarily dismissed from the lawsuit on March 31.
This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Jeremy Jones (3/25/2026)
Nick Martire (4/10/2026)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60313941/parties/smith-v-trump/
Baron, Noah (District of Columbia)
Andersen, James (District of Columbia)
Bailey, Steven C. (District of Columbia)
Barnes, Roderick Robert (District of Columbia)
Barr, Benjamin (District of Columbia)
Baron, Noah (District of Columbia)
Blechman, William J. (District of Columbia)
Blumberg, Jeffrey (District of Columbia)
Brody, David (District of Columbia)
Caspar, Edward G. (District of Columbia)
Chase, Sarah Wightman (District of Columbia)
Davis, Alexander (District of Columbia)
Epstein, Marc P. (District of Columbia)
Foreman, Jeffrey Todd (District of Columbia)
Gay, Faith E. (District of Columbia)
Ghafarzade, Babak (District of Columbia)
Greenbaum, Jon M. (District of Columbia)
Honkonen, Elizabeth Brooks (District of Columbia)
Kassotis, Denae (District of Columbia)
Krasnow, Elizabeth N. (District of Columbia)
Krock, Ronald J. (District of Columbia)
Margolin, Joshua S. (District of Columbia)
Neill, Anna Theresa (District of Columbia)
Ness, Esther D. (District of Columbia)
O'Brien, Claire (District of Columbia)
Andersen, James (District of Columbia)
Bailey, Steven C. (District of Columbia)
Barnes, Roderick Robert (District of Columbia)
Barr, Benjamin (District of Columbia)
Buschel, Robert Craig (District of Columbia)
Cocis, Nicolai (District of Columbia)
Coleman, Ronald D. (District of Columbia)
Flynn, Shawn M (District of Columbia)
Greaves, Jason Caldwell (Virginia)
Gross, Jonathan (District of Columbia)
Hackert, Connor John (District of Columbia)
Haller, Juli Zsuzsa (District of Columbia)
HOSTETTER, ALAN (District of Columbia)
Huish, Dyke (District of Columbia)
Hull, John Daniel (District of Columbia)
Jr, Gerald A. (District of Columbia)
Kamenar, Paul Douglas (District of Columbia)
KINNISON, DEREK (District of Columbia)
Klein, Stephen R. (District of Columbia)
Lawkowski, Gary (District of Columbia)
Martin, John BlairFishwick (District of Columbia)
Moseley, Jonathon Alden (District of Columbia)
Murray, Julianne E. (District of Columbia)
Myers, Jonathan (District of Columbia)
Nobile, Mark Paul (District of Columbia)
Pierce, John M. (District of Columbia)
Roberts, Jared Joseph (District of Columbia)
Roots, Roger (District of Columbia)
Sampson, Adam T. (District of Columbia)
Shaw, Jonathan Mark (District of Columbia)
Shumate, Brett A. (District of Columbia)
Singhal, Kyle (District of Columbia)
Skinner, Reginald Maurice (District of Columbia)
Smith, Nicholas D. (District of Columbia)
Smith, Grant J. (District of Columbia)
Stewart, Carolyn (District of Columbia)
Trainor, Patrick (District of Columbia)
WARNER, ERIK SCOTT (District of Columbia)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60313941/smith-v-trump/
Last updated April 13, 2026, 10:37 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 26, 2021
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiffs are all United States Capitol Police officers who were injured during Capitol riots on January 6, 2021
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Lawyers Comm. for Civil Rights Under Law
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Political Party
Trump for President, Inc. / Make America Great Again PAC
Private Entity/Person
Alan Hostetter
Ali Abdul Akbar
Brandon J. Straka
Charles Donohoe
Derek Kinnison
Dominic J. Pezzola
Donald J. Trump
Enrique Tarrio
Erik Scott Warner
Ethan Nordean
Felipe Antonio Martinez
Jessica Watkins
Joseph R. Biggs
Kelly Meggs
Oath Keepers
Proud Boys International
Roger J. Stone Jr.
Ronald Mele
Russell Taylor
Stop the Steal L.L.C.
Thomas E. Caldwell
Zachary Rehl
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Other Dockets:
District of District of Columbia 1:21-CV-02265
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Voting:
Voting: Physical/Effective Access
Case Summary of Smith v. Trump, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/47437/ (last updated 4/10/2026).