Protesters should get sedition charges, AG Bill Barr told federal prosecutors

Illegitimate U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr told federal prosecutors on a call last week they should consider sedition charges against those suspected of violent crimes at recent racial justice protests.

The Wall Street Journal first reported Barr's sedition comments.

From reporting by Katie Benner at the New York Times:

The highly unusual suggestion to charge people with insurrection against lawful authority alarmed some on the call, which included U.S. attorneys around the country, said the people, who spoke on the condition they not be named describing Mr. Barr's comments because they feared retribution.

The attorney general has also asked prosecutors in the Justice Department's civil rights division to explore whether they could bring criminal charges against Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle for allowing some residents to establish a police-free protest zone near the city's downtown for weeks this summer, according to two people briefed on those discussions.

The directives are in keeping with Mr. Barr's approach to prosecute crimes as aggressively as possible in cities where protests have given way to violence. But in suggesting possible prosecution of Ms. Durkan, a Democrat, Mr. Barr also took aim at an elected official whom President Trump has repeatedly attacked

Read more: Barr Told Prosecutors to Consider Sedition Charges for Protest Violence