WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Members of the group the Proud Boys are in Washington, D.C. pursuing a case against the Department of Justice.
Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Dominic Pazzola, Ethan Nordean, and Zachary Rehl arrived at the nation's capital on Wednesday.
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It's the first time the group has been together and in D.C. since the events that took place January 6, 2021.
"Luckily, we're at the seat of power now in D.C.," said Biggs.
Biggs said the group known as the Seditious 5 are preparing to sue the Department of Justice for $150 million.
"It looks like financial retribution, it looks like liberation, it looks like freedom," said Biggs.
They're claiming wrongful incarceration, following recent pardons and anticipated dismissals of their cases.
Biggs said he was sentenced to 17 years in prison and served four years before he was released.
"They took everything from me and my buddies, and we're going to take everything from them," said Biggs.
Biggs attended the Presidents' Day rally in West Palm Beachon Monday, hoping to get the attention of President Donald Trump as he exited his golf course.
"I'm happy to be out but now I'm more of a burden for my family, because I can't support my daughter. I'm still a terrorist, a felon. I can't get a job, I can't get a house, I can't buy anything," said Biggs, who is expecting his case to be dismissed, "I'm a military vet with no access to the VA now. I don't get my pension anymore."
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Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys who was one of the 1,000+ pardoned, was also at the rally. Tarrio said he was given a 22-year sentence and was released after three years.
"The relief didn't come on Jan. 21, when I was released. My relief came first for the country when we elected Donald J. Trump to be the 47th president of the United States," said Tarrio. "That was a day. That was the end of tyranny for me and for everybody standing here."
Former president of the Florida bar, Michelle Suskauer said prosecutors, like the DOJ, have immunity protecting them from liability when moving a case forward.
"If they're suing a governmental agency, they certainly have to jump through all the hoops that are necessary in order to do that," said Suskauer. "If prosecutors didn't have some immunity, then there would be a chilling effect and they wouldn't feel that they had the freedom to file the charges that they do. It's interesting territory that we're in right now, in terms of understanding what happens moving forward."
Suskauer said the DOJ may not have absolute immunity if the Proud Boys can prove that prosecutors created, or witheld, evidence from the defense, then they might have a warranted wrongful incarceration case.
As to whether pardons and dismissals will play a role is unknown.
"We know what's happening on these individual cases, but based on that, does that necessarily mean that the initial prosecution, based on evidence that the Department of Justice had at the time, was improper in any way," Suskauer said, "and that's what the court is going to have to decide."
