Leading members of the Proud Boys group are bringing a $100 million lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). 

This comes, according to the Daily Mail, after President Donald Trump pardoned these individuals.

It was one of the first things that he did when he entered the Oval Office earlier this year, and the move was not without controversy.

🚨🇺🇸 This isn’t just a lawsuit. It’s a reckoning. 🔥🔥🔥

Political hostages, witness intimidation, judicial corruption — and now, accountability.

Enrique Tarrio, former leader of the Proud Boys, and four other members, filed a $100 million lawsuit against the U.S. Department… pic.twitter.com/nvGtTFju34

— April Color (@ColorApril) June 7, 2025

The lawsuit: 'egregious and systemic abuse'

Fox News explains that the lawsuit from the Proud Boys has to do with the way the government prosecuted them over their participation in the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Per the outlet:

Five members of the Proud Boys are suing the U.S. government and certain employees in the FBI and Department of Justice for $100 million over their Jan. 6 prosecutions. Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola allege in the lawsuit the FBI and DOJ violated their constitutional rights with their prosecution over what prosecutors said was their planning of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The case has been brought in Florida.

In their court filing, the Proud Boys leaders write:

Through the use of evidence tampering, witness intimidation, violations of attorney-client privilege, and placing spies to report on trial strategy, the government got its fondest wish of imprisoning the J6 Defendants, the modern equivalent of placing one’s enemies' heads on a spike outside the town wall as a warning to any who would think to challenge the status quo.

They accuse the government of "egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal."

Background: convictions and pardons

Fox reports that "four of the five men were convicted of seditious conspiracy" in relation to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

Tarrio was given a 22-year prison sentence. Nordean got 18 years, Biggs, 17, and Rehl, 15.

Pezzola was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct Congress, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

This was until President Trump pardoned all five individuals upon entering the White House.

At the time of this writing, neither Trump nor the DOJ has responded to the filing of the lawsuit.