Why Good's Family Is Invoking the KKK Act

At the heart of the lawsuit is the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a federal law enacted during Reconstruction to combat organized campaigns of violence and intimidation against newly freed Blacks and their allies.

The act allows civil litigation against conspiracies that deprive people of equal protection under the law, with one provision specifically referencing people who go "in disguise on the highway" to deprive others of equal protection.

The plaintiffs argue the law applies in 2026 because masked federal agents allegedly carried out discriminatory enforcement actions and because Good's killing furthered an effort to intimidate observers and targeted communities.

"Congress enacted [the law] to address precisely this scenario: the acts of individuals who ride the public roads with their faces covered, to strip a despised group of the equal protection of the laws, and conspiracies to accomplish the same," the complaint, filed in the U.S. District of Minnesota, read.