AG Barr likens coronavirus lockdown to slavery as he encourages prosecutors to charge protesters with sedition
US Attorney General Bill Barr compared US coronavirus lockdowns to American slavery on Wednesday night as it was revealed he is encouraging prosecutors to charge police brutality and racial injustice protesters with sedition whenever possible.
Barr spoke out at the Constitution Day celebration at Hillsdale College in Michigan, suggesting the measures put in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 were on par with an alternative to being put in prison, but one step down from the restrictions slaves endured.
'You know, putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,' Barr told a crowd which cheered in response, CNN reported.
Barr likened the pandemic to life for Black people before slavery was abolished after he was asked to explain 'constitutional hurdles for forbidding a church from meeting during Covid-19.'
US Attorney General Bill Barr told prosecutors they could use sedition charges against violent protesters, according to a report
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct is set on fire during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, on May 28
He then blasted state governors, claiming they were using their executive powers to prevent businesses from reopening and people from returning to work.
'Most of the governors do what bureaucrats always do, which is they ... defy common sense,' Barr said. 'They treat free citizens as babies that can't take responsibility for themselves and others.
'We have to give business people an opportunity, tell them what the rules are you know the masks, which rule of masks, you had this month... and then let them try to adapt their business to that and you'll have ingenuity and people will at least have the freedom to try to earn a living.'
Barr told federal prosecutors that protesters demonstrating against police and racism could be charged with sedition.
The Wall Street Journal said Barr told federal district attorneys in a conference call last week that a law against plotting to overthrow the US government was among charges they could use against participants in violent protests.
The WSJ reported that he divulged details of two statutes that could help bring about the charges.
In order to prove sedition, they would have to prove imminent danger to government officials or agents as part of a conspiracy. However without the plot it can fall under expressing violent anti-government sentiment under the First Amendment.
Another statute could bring federal charges on someone who obstructs law enforcement responding to unrest.
CNN and the New York Times confirmed the recommendation by Barr.
Two people on the call said Barr has asked whether charges could be brought on Seattle's Mayor Jenny Durkan for allowing people to create a police-free zone.
Barr said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court has determined the executive branch has 'virtually unchecked discretion' on whether to go ahead with a prosecution.
'The power to execute and enforce the law is an executive function altogether,' Barr said at an event in Washington celebrating the Constitution. 'That means discretion is invested in the executive to determine when to exercise the prosecutorial power.'
University of Alabama law professor, Jenny Carroll, told the WSJ: 'If you start charging those people, even if you don’t get a conviction, it may make people think twice before going out to exercise their right to free speech.'
Two people on the call said Barr has asked whether charges could be brought on Seattle's Mayor Jenny Durkan
The charge would be for allowing people to create a police-free zone in Seattle in June
President Donald Trump has called for the Justice Department to heavily punish the protesters, whom he and Barr have labeled extreme left anarchists.
While protest-related crimes usually bring only local charges, under Barr's guidance district attorneys, federal prosecutors have charged more than 200 demonstrators with crimes that bring heftier penalties.
Asked about the report on Barr, Trump said his government will treat demonstrators toughly.
'If you have a violent demonstration, yes, we will put it down very very quickly,' he said, adding: 'And I think the American public wants to see that.'
According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, about 93 percent of protests this summer were peaceful.
Such a sedition charge has been used with extreme rarity and the most recent example, a case brought against a Michigan armed militia group, failed in 2012 due to weak and 'circumstantial evidence'.
Trump has called for the Justice Department to heavily punish the protesters, whom he and Barr have labeled extreme left anarchists. 'If you have a violent demonstration, yes, we will put it down very very quickly,' he said