Florida Residents Sue U.S. Government Over Jan. 6 Police Force

A group of Floridians who attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC 0n January 6, 2021 have filed a federal class action lawsuit against the United States, alleging Capitol Police and Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department used indiscriminate, excessive force against “largely peaceful demonstrators” on the Capitol’s west grounds.

The complaint, filed March 27 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s Ocala Division, accuses officers of firing chemical munitions, impact projectiles and flash-bang grenades into the crowd without warning and of physically striking protesters with batons and fists. It seeks millions of dollars in damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

The allegations have not been proven in court, and the government has not yet filed a response.

The suit is led by plaintiffs Patrick and Marie Sullivan of Citrus County, Florida, and Alan E. Fischer III, who say they were on the west terrace and west plaza of the Capitol on January 6 exercising their First Amendment rights to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Many of the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 came with the shared goal of stopping or disrupting Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 Electoral College victory and, in various ways, keeping Donald Trump in power.

Some hoped lawmakers would be intimidated into rejecting key states’ electoral votes or sending results back to state legislatures. Others embraced fringe legal and conspiracy theories suggesting that physically occupying the building or “showing strength” could trigger emergency powers, new investigations, or even martial law that would overturn the election outcome. 

According to the complaint, at about 1:06 p.m. that day, officers from the U.S. Capitol Police and the Metropolitan Police Department began “indiscriminately” firing a wide range of munitions into the crowd on the Capitol’s west side. The filing claims no dispersal orders or other verbal warnings were issued beforehand, in violation of the District of Columbia’s First Amendment Assemblies Act, which requires three warnings before force is used on protesters.

The plaintiffs also allege some officers struck protesters with Billy clubs and ASP batons, as well as with fists and open hands, including blows to the head.

Patrick and Marie Sullivan say they were exposed to O.C. gas and suffered injuries typical of chemical exposure. Fischer says he was struck in the face with a pepper ball and later exposed to additional chemical agents, causing further injury.

The complaint cites a later admission by officers, captured on video, that munitions were “hitting innocent people.”

The lawsuit describes the plaintiffs and many proposed class members as peaceful protesters. Public records and earlier court cases, however, show that some Jan. 6 participants later faced criminal charges, and that former President Donald Trump ultimately issued sweeping clemency for many of them.

Alan E. Fischer III was charged in connection with his actions outside the Capitol on January 6. Other plaintiffs in the Florida case who have been convicted for Jan. 6–related crimes are Dominic Pezzola, Craig Bingert and Christopher Worrell.

Trump issued a proclamation in January 2025 granting full or partial pardons to a 1,500 individuals convicted of offenses tied to the Capitol attack, including some defendants who clashed with police. Those actions ended criminal exposure for many Jan. 6 offenders but did not bar them from pursuing civil claims like the one now filed in Florida.

Patrick and Marie Sullivan have not been charged with crimes related to January 6, and there is no indication they were among those who received presidential pardons.

Federal authorities have described the West Front of the Capitol, the same general area where these plaintiffs say they were standing, as the site of some of the most intense and sustained violence that day. Hundreds of officers were injured in confrontations with rioters who pushed through barriers, battled police in hand-to-hand combat, sprayed officers with chemical irritants and used poles, shields and other objects as weapons.

In numerous criminal cases, judges and juries have accepted the government’s account that officers deployed chemical agents, less-lethal munitions and physical force in an effort to hold back a crowd that had already broken police lines and was attempting to breach the building.

Because it is a civil action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, this new case will center on whether federal officers acted negligently or unjustifiably toward these particular individuals, not on the broader criminal responsibility for the attack on Congress.

The suit seeks to represent a class of all individuals who were on the Capitol’s west terrace, plaza, steps or lawn on January 6 and who were struck by weapons, exposed to chemical agents or directly struck by law enforcement.

The complaint identifies 46 named class members so far, divided into three groups:

• Individuals who have filed administrative claims with federal agencies and waited the six months required under the FTCA without a final decision.
• Individuals who have filed administrative claims but whose six‑month waiting period has not yet expired.
• Additional people who meet the class definition but did not file claims; the plaintiffs argue that requiring every class member to file would be a “futile” formality because prior claims have allegedly been ignored.

According to the complaint, the aggregate dollar amount sought in administrative filings by the named class members totals $18.4 million. The suit describes claimed damages including bodily injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, lost earnings, medical expenses and loss of enjoyment of life, which it says are permanent or continuing.

The lawsuit also contends that MPD officers on the scene were acting as “borrowed servants” under the direction of the Capitol Police and that their actions should be treated as actions of the United States for liability purposes.

The plaintiffs are asking the court to certify the class, award compensatory damages to all eligible members, issue a declaratory judgment that Capitol Police and MPD acted negligently and committed assault and battery on January 6, and award attorneys’ fees and costs. They have demanded a jury trial.

The Justice Department will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint and to contest both the factual allegations and the proposed class.