Overview

• Five Proud Boys leaders—Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola—filed the lawsuit June 6 in a federal court in Florida seeking $100 million in damages.
• The complaint accuses federal officials of “egregious and systemic abuse” of the legal system, citing evidence tampering, witness intimidation and violations of attorney-client privilege.
• Four plaintiffs were convicted of seditious conspiracy and Pezzola of other serious felonies in a 2023 trial, receiving prison terms of 10 to 22 years before their sentences were pardoned or commuted.
• By naming Justice Department and FBI employees as defendants, the suit could compel the department to defend its Jan. 6 prosecutions in court or negotiate a taxpayer-funded settlement.
• The filing follows President Trump’s sweeping January pardons of nearly all Jan. 6 defendants and comes as the administration recently settled a $5 million wrongful death claim brought by Ashli Babbitt’s family.