AG Bill Barr Takes Heavy Handed Stance on Protests, Floats ‘Sedition’ Charges

By day, a number of US cities are hosting peaceful demonstrations and protests aimed at bringing awareness to the issues of police brutality and racial injustice.  But at night, once these mild-mannered Americans head home, groups of organized extremists take over.  They infiltrate the crowds and clash with police, many of them hoping to bring about a new civil war or outright anarchy.

This has been the story for months in places like Portland, where riots have been declared nearly nightly for over 100 consecutive days.

Local authorities have, at times, struggled to maintain the peace.  When federal forces were introduced, the situation turned ever more violent, with these late night agitators seizing an opportunity to radicalize even more individuals against the government.

This week, Attorney General Bill Barr expressed his belief that some of these violent demonstrators could or should face some heavy charges at the federal level.

Throughout the summer of unrest, federal prosecutors have charged over 200 demonstrators with violent crimes alleged to have taken place at protests against police brutality. The charges, ranging from arson to assaulting federal officers, could soon be elevated to even more serious felonies, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

In a conference call with U.S. attorneys across the country last week, Attorney General William Barr reportedly told his audience that they should be especially aggressive when considering charges for protesters accused of violence. The most serious charge he mentioned was sedition, a high crime considering the likely intent of most demonstrators alleged to have engaged in violence. As The Wall Street Journal notes, getting a charge of conspiracy to overthrow the government to stick in court would be difficult[…]

The verbiage seems to fall in line with the sort of stance that President Trump has publicly taken as well, with the Commander in Chief having referred to these violent individuals as “animals”.