WASHINGTON (AP) - In a private call with federal prosecutors across the country, Attorney General William Barr's message was clear: Aggressively go after demonstrators who cause violence.
Following up with a memo Thursday obtained by the Associated Press, Justice officials "re-emphasized" that prosecutors should even consider bringing rarely used sedition charges for some unrest cases. The statute could "potentially apply to some of the violent acts that have occurred."
Barr is pushing his U.S. attorneys to bring federal charges whenever they can, keeping a grip on cases even if a defendant could be tried instead in state court, according to officials with knowledge of last week's call who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. Federal convictions often result in longer prison sentences.
The Trump administration's crackdown has already led to more than 300 arrests on federal crimes in the protests since the death of George Floyd. An AP analysis of the data shows while many people are accused of violent crimes such as arson for hurling Molotov cocktails and burning police cars and assault for injuring law enforcement, others are not. That's led to criticism that at least some arrests are a politically motivated effort to stymie demonstrations.
"The speed at which this whole thing was moved from state court to federal court is stunning and unbelievable," said Charles Sunwabe, who represents an Erie, Pennsylvania, man accused of lighting a fire at a coffee shop after a May 30 protest. "It's an attempt to intimidate these demonstrators and to silence them."
Some cases are viewed as trumped up and should not be in federal court, lawyers said, including a teenager accused of civil disorder for claiming online "we are not each other's enemy, only enemy is 12," a reference to law enforcement.
The administration has seized on the demonstrations and an aggressive federal response to showcase what President Donald Trump said is his law-and-order prowess, claiming he is countering rising crime in cities run by Democrats. Trump has derided protesters and played up the violence around protests, though the majority of them are peaceful.
Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen wrote in the Thursday memo that the sedition statute doesn't require proof of a plot to overthrow the government; it instead could be used when a defendant tries to oppose the government's authority by force. An example, cited in the memo: "A group has conspired to take a federal courthouse or other federal property by force," similar to what occurred in Portland, Oregon, during clashes there. Those charged under the statute could face up to 20 years in prison, though it's difficult to prove in court.
However, Justice had also explored whether it could pursue criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland, Oregon, after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators, spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told the Associated Press.
Pockets of violence have indeed popped up in other cities: Rochester, New York; Minneapolis, Louisville, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.
Federal officials were called into Kenosha, Wisconsin, after large protests and unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake and the gunning down of two protesters and later arrest of a 17-year-old in their deaths. Notably, that teenager has not been charged with any federal crimes. Neither was a man accused of shooting and killing a demonstrator in Louisville following the death of Breonna Taylor.
While Barr has gone after protest-related violence targeted at law enforcement, he has argued there is seldom a reason to open sweeping investigations into the practices of police departments. The Justice Department, however, has initiated a number of civil rights investigations into individual cases. Barr has said he does not believe there is systemic racism in police departments, even though Black people are disproportionately more likely to be killed by police, and public attitudes over police reforms have shifted.
Federal involvement in local cases is nothing new. Officials across the country have turned to the Justice Department for decades, particularly for violent crime and gang cases where offenders could face much stiffer federal penalties and there is no parole.
Police chiefs in several cities have pointed to the importance of their relationships with federal prosecutors to bring charges that can result in long prison sentences to drive down violent crime.
Even before the unrest earlier this year, the Justice Department was stepping in to bring charges in states where the government believes justice is not being fully pursued by local prosecutors. In January, for example, the department brought federal hate crime charges against a woman accused of slapping three Orthodox Jewish women in one of several apparently anti-Semitic attacks reported throughout New York during Hanukkah.
It is not clear whether protest-related arrests will continue apace. Demonstrations have slowed, though not necessarily because of the federal charges. Wildfires in the West and hurricanes in the South have lessened some of the conflict.