# J6ers want a class-action suit against the government **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 31, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897 "2026-03-31T03:34:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/1 "2026-03-31T03:34:35Z")
(Mods, if this works better folded into an existing thread, feel free to move it) Link [here](https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143641216): > [@](#): > > Dozens of people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol are suing the federal government, accusing responding officers of using excessive force. The class-action lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department “indiscriminately” fired chemical munitions, pepper spray and other projectiles into a crowd gathered on the Capitol’s west side. I have no words. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/2 "2026-03-31T04:40:54Z")
I don’t want to be “that guy,” but some J6 people were indeed nonviolent (although still illegal), such as those that were walking within the red-rope corridors and just taking photos. Some may have just been standing outside in a crowd shouting but not doing anything kinetic. And of course, there were the full-on violent ones. Are these J6ers the peaceful ones claiming the police was hitting them with projectiles just like the violent J6ers? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/3 "2026-03-31T05:01:33Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t want to be “that guy,” If you don’t want to be “that guy”, maybe _don’t be_ “that guy” . ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/4 "2026-03-31T05:38:20Z")
They had every right to be shot. They should be happy they were treated as lightly as they were. I refuse to say that they were treated fairly, because fairly would mean they should have been unpardoned felons with significant jailtime and probation. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/5 "2026-03-31T06:03:49Z")
Katie Phang has a pretty [in-depth analysis of it](https://youtu.be/JYDkgcmfCwg?si=nWcvmZERfStvsMZB) here. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/6 "2026-03-31T12:12:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t want to be “that guy,” but some J6 people were indeed nonviolent (although still illegal), such as those that were walking within the red-rope corridors and just taking photos. That was, almost word for word, the GOPs propaganda (bullshit) version of what happened. “such as those that were walking within the red-rope corridors and just taking photos.” [link](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/565223-gop-rep-defends-description-of-normal-tourist-visit-on-jan-6/) > “Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall **showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures**. You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.” Bolding mine “people were indeed nonviolent (although still illegal)” [link](https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gop-rep-describes-jan-6-riot-self-guided-tour-capitol-rcna186439) > thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, **albeit unauthorized** , tour of the U.S. Capitol building. Bolding mine ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/7 "2026-03-31T12:36:13Z")
This is pure opportunism and is exactly the sort of thing you can expect in any country where judges decide cases based on personal politics or orders from The Big Boss, rather than based on laws and facts. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/8 "2026-03-31T14:18:12Z")
Will it even reach a judge? Trump could just order the Government to settle. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/9 "2026-03-31T14:21:56Z")
Yep. I had forgotten that part. FYI All, this topic is also getting hashed out starting here: > [@NEW Stupid Republican Idea of the Day (Part 4)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day-part-4/1014678/3958): > > I think this post belongs in this thread, although it could also go in others. Members of the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are suing the federal government for tens of millions of dollars in damages, claiming that the “indiscriminate” use of force by police officers repelling the attack caused them physical and emotional injuries. [https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/jan-6-lawsuit-capitol-police-00850890](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/30/jan-6-lawsuit-capitol-police-00850890) Note that thread is in the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/10 "2026-03-31T20:41:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I don’t want to be “that guy,” but some J6 people were indeed nonviolent (although still illegal), such as those that were walking within the red-rope corridors and just taking photos. Any who were inside of the building were, by virtue of being inside of the building, violent. There were nonviolent ones outside, but they weren’t the ones that got targeted by the police. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2026, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/j6ers-want-a-class-action-suit-against-the-government/1028897/11 "2026-04-01T03:06:41Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > fairly would mean they should have been unpardoned felons with significant jailtime and probation. Or dead, like one was.