Capitol Police Can Sue Trump, Giuliani, the Mob — But Will They?

134 capitol and D.C. officers are known to have been injured in the January 6 riot at the Capitol, plus three have taken their lives. This is not business as usual. This is sheer lunacy. Donald Trump began shining on the entire event like it didn’t take place — or if it did, he had nothing to do with it — but the fact remains that Trump, Giuliani and the rest of the mob who did all the damage may be liable civilly as well as criminally. Whether the suits will happen or not is one thing, but that they should happen is a definite. Slate:

The injured police, and the families of those who have died, have civil recourse through lawsuits against a host of people who rioted, or who directly inciting the deadly attack on the Capitol—a list that potentially includes Donald Trump, members of his family, elected representatives, and Rudy Giuliani.

Of course, the easiest cases are claims against the miscreants who actually administered the violence.  Although police officers assume certain risks as a condition of their employment, they are nonetheless able to recover damages against anyone who intentionally attacks them. As one dramatic example, whoever is determined to have struck Officer Brian Sicknick in the head with a fire extinguisher, an act that led to his death, can and should suffer civil liability in addition to criminal charges. And those who suffered serious injuries will likely find it worthwhile to sue any rioter who can be identified as having assaulted them (assuming they can pay any judgment levied against them). These victims can recover punitive damages, as well, because tort law allows this remedy for intentional harms. Cases brought by family members of the two officers who killed themselves could also succeed, but they are trickier. Courts have mostly discarded an older rule that saw suicide as breaking the chain of causation between defendants’ actions and victims’ death, but it can still be hard to show that the attacks themselves were a substantial factor in bringing about the tragic event. Still, it’s possible. […]

But of far greater political significance is a slew of possible claims against others—some of whom hold, or until recently held, elective office. The plaintiffs in such suits would need to show that these potential defendants had a hand in inciting the January 6 riot. Just as with criminal law, those who actively egg others on to violence can be held liable in a civil action for ensuing injuries or death. The First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech blocks some lawsuits from succeeding, but not all. As I’ve argued previously in a piece for Slate, Trump has danced on the line between permissible, fiery speech and illegal incitement to violence before—as far back as his campaign rallies, in fact. The evidence presented in the upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate should provide grist for the argument that Trump’s rhetoric—which repeated invoked the idea that the election was stolen by fraud and that the crowd must show strength by marching down to the Capitol—crossed that line. Reading the full transcript of the hourlong ramble leaves a distinct sense that the ensuing mayhem was exactly what Trump wanted, and accounts of his enthusiastic reaction to the riot while it was going on buttress that conclusion. If it’s not enough for incitement, it’s close. (Even former attorney general and Trump-enabler William Barr flatly accused his former boss of “orchestrating a mob” to pressure Congress.)

That this happened at all is tragic. What is even more tragic is that not only will Donald Trump most likely walk away scot free from all this, but that he is being actively courted by the GOP to continue to be their standard bearer. That is the behavior in this country that truly defies all reason. The rioters can’t be forgiven but they could be at least explained by a mob rule mentality, heat of the moment kind of a feeling that overcame reason. But the GOP? Theirs is a folly much different. All they care about is staying in power and they have lost all sight of what the cost is to themselves and to their party.

The GOP keeping Trump around is an insult to all of these officers and their families, injured or dead. Maybe that’s why the three officers who committed suicide took their lives? I have no idea, but maybe that’s a part of it, at least, that they simply couldn’t believe that this kind of thing was going on, much less sanctioned by elected officials.