Five members of the far-right Proud Boys, who were convicted of the 2021 Capitol invasion but were pardoned by US President Donald Trump, have filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking $100 million in damages.

In their lawsuit, which they filed yesterday, Friday, in a Florida federal court, the Proud Boys members claim they were the target of “politically motivated persecution” that was intended to punish supporters of Trump.

According to the plaintiffs, the Biden administration and the prosecutors in charge of investigating the case “improperly and abusively used the U.S. judicial system and the Constitution to punish and suppress Trump’s political allies.”

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of Republican supporters, believing his allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election, entered the Capitol to prevent Joe Biden’s victory from being certified.

More than 140 police officers were injured in the ensuing violence and some 1,600 people were arrested and charged. Of those, more than 1,270 were convicted.

The five plaintiffs were convicted of conspiracy and participation in the riots. Trump, as early as the first day of his second term as US president, pardoned them or reduced their sentences.

“These people were destroyed,” the Republican had said after signing the pardon. “What they did to these people is outrageous. Rarely has anything like this been done in the history of our country.”

Trump has called the attack on Capitol Hill a “day of love.”

Among the plaintiffs is Enrique Tario, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison, the longest sentence ever imposed in the case.

Last month, the Trump administration decided to pay nearly $5 million in compensation to the family of a woman killed by police officer fire during the Capitol invasion.

The case was set to go to court, but, after Trump won the election, the Justice Department decided to reach a settlement with the woman’s family.