Attorney General Bill Barr has told federal prosecutors to consider charging violent protesters with sedition and other criminal statutes, according to a report.
Barr made the comments last week during a conference call with U.S. attorneys, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited “people familiar with the conversation.”
During the call, the news outlet reported that Barr told prosecutors to “be aggressive,” to include potentially charging suspects with plotting the overthrow the U.S. government.
The pertinent statute would fall under the U.S. Code section that deals with seditious conspiracy.
The 18 U.S. Code subsection 2384 statue reads as follows.
“If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.”
During the conference call with prosecutors, Barr reportedly warned that violent demonstrations could grow worse leading up to the November elections.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Just the News.
This Originally Appeared on Just the News
