Barr instructed federal prosecutors to charge protesters with ‘sedition’: report

By Stephanie Guerilus

·September 16, 2020

U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on July 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. In his first congressional testimony in more than a year, Barr is expected to face questions from the committee about his deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Portland, Oregon, and other cities in response to Black Lives Matter protests; his role in using federal agents to violently clear protesters from Lafayette Square near the White House last month before a photo opportunity for President Donald Trump in front of a church; his intervention in court cases involving Trump's allies Roger Stone and Michael Flynn; and other issues. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Attorney General William Barr told U.S. prosecutors that he wanted violent protesters to be charged with sedition or the overthrow of the US government, according to a new report.

Barr advocated for the fullest extent of the law to be unleashed against protesters during a conference call last week, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The death of George Floyd in May while in the custody of Minneapolis police led to widespread Black Lives Matter protests, some of which became violent as protesters clashed with cops.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Congressional Auditorium at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center July 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Floyd died after now-former police officer Derek Chauvin placed a knee on his neck. Some of the demonstrations around the country after Floyd’s death led to the destruction of property, vandalism, and fires being set to police cars.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in June to protect buildings and monuments in response to the wave of protests. The Trump administration declared the Department of Justice would “prosecute to the fullest extent permitted under federal law,” any person who incited violence or damaged government property.

As theGrio reported, Trump has made law and order an essential feature of his re-election bid. He has threatened to deploy the military to cities to quell the protests.

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“You’ve got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again,” Trump said over the summer. “We’re doing it in Washington, D.C. We’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before.”

Barr is also said to have sounded the alarm about the upcoming elections worsening the current climate. Barr’s remedy was to charge violent protesters with a litany of federal charges, even when states ones applied, such as the rarely used sedition charge.

Legal experts claimed to the WSJ that it would be hard for the nation’s top prosecutor to prove a conspiracy for government overthrow using sedition. It would also run afoul of the First Amendment which guarantees the public the right of protest.

According to the WSJ, more than 200 people have been charged with federal crimes as a result of the protests. Arson, assaulting federal officers, or gun crimes have been among the charges.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice has not commented on the veracity of the WSJ report.

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