CNN
—
A federal judge has allowed another civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday rejected a request by Trump — and several far-right activists indicted in connection with the Capitol siege — to dismiss the case.
The lawsuit was brought by Capitol Police, who allege that Trump and others violated federal and D.C. laws because actions related to the riots interrupted congressional certification of the 2020 election.
To keep the charges against Trump alive, Mehta pointed to an opinion he wrote last year denying Trump’s request for immunity to challenge a similar lawsuit filed against him on Jan. 6.
Mehta, who sits in federal court in the District of Columbia, said in Thursday’s opinion that the Capitol Police lawsuit may also target several others, including members of far-right militia groups such as the Keepers of the Oath, Center of Three Points and the Proud Boys.
However, Mehta dismissed the police case against far-right figures Roger Stone and Ali Alexander.
The alleged actions of Stone and Alexander singled out in the lawsuit are protected by the First Amendment, the judge said.
