Barr told prosecutors to consider sedition charges for protest violence, asked about charging Seattle mayor
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr told federal prosecutors in a call last week that they should consider charging rioters and others who committed violent crimes at protests in recent months with sedition, according to two people familiar with the call.
A Justice Department representatives did not respond to requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported Barr’s remarks about sedition. Barr’s actions have thrust the Justice Department into the political fray at a time when Democrats and former law enforcement officials have expressed fears that he is politicizing the department, particularly by intervening in legal matters in ways that benefit Trump or his circle of friends and advisers.
The attorney general’s question about whether Durkan, the former U.S. attorney in Seattle, had violated any federal statutes by allowing the protest zone was highly unusual, former law enforcement officials said. But far-right and far-left groups, as well as looters and rioters, have seized on the protests to commit acts of violence, including deadly shootings — serious crimes that some federal prosecutors said could not be dismissed out of hand as anomalous, particularly as the threat from extremist groups grows.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Barr Tells Prosecutors to Consider Charging Violent Protesters With SeditionAttorney General William Barr told the nation’s federal prosecutors to be aggressive when charging violent demonstrators with crimes, including potentially prosecuting protestors for plotting to overthrow the U.S. government, people familiar with the conversation said.
Read more »
US attorney denies report that Barr asked prosecutors to consider criminal charges against DurkanU.S. Attorney General William Barr reportedly asked federal prosecutors to explore whether they could bring criminal charges against Seattle Mayor Durkan for allowing the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) police-free protest zone that led to two fatal shootings.
Read more »
Barr blasts his own DOJ prosecutors, equates them to preschoolers and 'headhunters'In scathing remarks against his own staff, AG Barr says the US Justice Dept. has recently acted “more like a trade association for federal prosecutors than the administrator of a fair system of justice,' and equated them to preschoolers and 'headhunters.'
Read more »
William Barr takes aim at prosecutors inside his own Justice DepartmentAttorney General William Barr is taking aim at his own Justice Department, criticizing prosecutors for behaving as “headhunters” in their pursuit of prominent targets and politically charged cases
Read more »
Barr blasts his own Justice Department prosecutors, accuses them of being 'headhunters'In scathing remarks against his own staff, AG Barr says the US Justice Dept. has recently acted “more like a trade association for federal prosecutors than the administrator of a fair system of justice,' and equated them to preschoolers and 'headhunters.'
Read more »