Trump Administration Moves to Charge Protesters with Sedition Against the United States

[lil devils x]

Justice Dept.: Sedition charge may apply to protest violence
By MICHAEL BALSAMO, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and COLLEEN LONG

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a memo to U.S. attorneys Thursday obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department emphasized that federal prosecutors should aggressively go after demonstrators who cause violence — and even sedition charges could potentially apply.

The sedition statute doesn’t require proof of a plot to overthrow the government, the memo read. It instead could be used when a defendant tries to oppose the government’s authority by force.

Attorney General William Barr has been pushing his U.S. attorneys to bring federal charges in protest-related violence whenever they can, keeping a grip on cases even if a defendant could be tried instead in state court. Federal convictions often result in longer prison sentences; sedition alone could lead to up to 20 years behind bars.

Justice Dept.: Sedition charge may apply to protest violence

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a memo to U.S. attorneys Thursday obtained by The Associated Press, the Justice Department emphasized that federal prosecutors should aggressively go after demonstrators who cause violence — and even sedition charges could potentially apply.

apnews.com

Oh No, this couldn't go wrong.. Not at all.

 

[Trunkage]

China, China, China

 

[lil devils x]

China, China, China

Maybe he rants about China so much because he is secretly jealous.

Trump just tried to explain what China will do next, and he sounds jealous

In a tweet, President Donald Trump attempted to explain what Chinese policymakers would do to help their economy through its trade war with the US.

www.businessinsider.com

This is definitely not a good thing for the President of the US to want to be more like China in these things though... Not at all.

 

[Dreiko]

Well, if you try to form your own country that you claim is not america, within america, what is that if not sedition?

 

[lil devils x]

Well, if you try to form your own country that you claim is not america, within america, what is that if not sedition?

"The sedition statute doesn’t require proof of a plot to overthrow the government, the memo read. It instead could be used when a defendant tries to oppose the government’s authority by force. "

What does that mean? When a protester picks up teargas the cops just threw at them and throws it back? Leaf blower Dad's blowing tear gas back at officers? What is the definition of " force". Protesters locking arms as they are taught to peacefully protest so the cops cant tear them apart easily or break their line? Attempting to " reinterpret" the sedition act means to change what it was actually designed for to be used at will, then that gives them a good deal of leeway now doesn't it?

Under this definition, Martin Luther King's marches would have been sedition as well, as there was plenty of force used along the way as well. This can be seen as nothing less than a blatant attempt to suppress the will of the people.

 

[Trunkage]

Well, if you try to form your own country that you claim is not america, within america, what is that if not sedition?

You're going to have to show me where this bill is targeting those 'forming their own country' exclusively.

 

[lil devils x]

You're going to have to show me where this bill is targeting those 'forming their own country' exclusively.

He used a hypothetical of taking over a government building as an example to US attorney generals, however, his broad redefinition of the sedition act, doesn't even require that much to be done. He isn't excluding the other activities used commonly by protesters from this definition either. He has been encouraging federal charges for protesters for months, he is now trying to take it even further.

 

[Dreiko]

You're going to have to show me where this bill is targeting those 'forming their own country' exclusively.

Isn't this a response to the formation of the CHAZ? From what I see here, this is Trump's way of ensuring people won't get their neighborhood taken over by random crazy people who proclaim it to be a new country and start policing who goes in and out, extorting residents for money, defacing the buildings, shooting and raping people and growing vegetables on cardboard with a bit of topsoil scattered above it.


Sure, it's not a good thing, but the thing it fights is worse, which is why those people are incredibly idiotic for giving Trump an excuse to go full fascist by presenting us with an even worse alternative than that.

 

[Revnak]

Isn't this a response to the formation of the CHAZ? From what I see here, this is Trump's way of ensuring people won't get their neighborhood taken over by random crazy people who proclaim it to be a new country and start policing who goes in and out, extorting residents for money, defacing the buildings, shooting and raping people and growing vegetables on cardboard with a bit of topsoil scattered above it.


Sure, it's not a good thing, but the thing it fights is worse, which is why those people are incredibly idiotic for giving Trump an excuse to go full fascist by presenting us with an even worse alternative than that.

Given that you live in Greece I presume you’d know autonomous zones don’t easily equate to “actively overthrowing the government.”

 

[Dreiko]

Given that you live in Greece I presume you’d know autonomous zones don’t easily equate to “actively overthrowing the government.”

Nah I don't live there any more lol, been in the US for a while now. And what you had there was known "bad areas" where anarchists who would shoot cops and other criminal thuggery would go, not some random place which one day just suddenly was taken over for being near a police station. These are places people already know to move out of due to those criminals being there.

 

[Revnak]

Nah I don't live there any more lol, been in the US for a while now. And what you had there was known "bad areas" where anarchists who would shoot cops and other criminal thuggery would go, not some random place which one day just suddenly was taken over for being near a police station. These are places people already know to move out of due to those criminals being there.

Yeah, sure, totally an accurate description of Exarchia there.

 

[Dreiko]

Yeah, sure, totally an accurate description of Exarchia there.

I'm going by what I remember from back in 2005 and before when I was 17, can't expect it to be totally accurate to 2020 realities lol.

 

[Dalisclock]

It's truly ironic considering how much this administration seems to love Confederate flags and symbols.

 

[lil devils x]

Isn't this a response to the formation of the CHAZ? From what I see here, this is Trump's way of ensuring people won't get their neighborhood taken over by random crazy people who proclaim it to be a new country and start policing who goes in and out, extorting residents for money, defacing the buildings, shooting and raping people and growing vegetables on cardboard with a bit of topsoil scattered above it.


Sure, it's not a good thing, but the thing it fights is worse, which is why those people are incredibly idiotic for giving Trump an excuse to go full fascist by presenting us with an even worse alternative than that.

Yea, that makes TOTAL sense after Trump actually made a guy his campaign chair who led an actual armed insurrection takeover of a wildlife reserve and pardoned his buddies for it. Total sense.

Trump Campaign Official Arrested On Federal Charges Linked To Bundy Ranch

FBI agents arrested Jerry DeLemus, co-chair of Veterans for Trump in New...

talkingpointsmemo.com

More armed men arriving at Oregon wildlife refuge

BURNS, Ore. AP - A convoy of more than a dozen pickup trucks carrying armed men arrived at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday.Some of the men carrying rifles told journalists they were there to help with security for the group that has occupi

komonews.com

Fresh outrage after militia seen rifling through tribal artifacts at Oregon refuge

Standoff leader posted a video of him looking through artifacts and documents from the Paiute tribe at the Malheur national wildlife refuge, sparking outrage

www.theguardian.com

Trump pardons Oregon ranchers who sparked 2016 militia standoff

Dwight and Steven Hammond's case sparked a 41-day standoff between armed militiamen and the FBI.

www.bbc.com

So let me get this straight, ACTUAL armed militia take over federal buildings in a stand off with federal agents and commit actual sedition by the definition and proper use of the act, destroying and damaging irreplaceable artifacts and Trump appoints them to be part of his campaign and then pardons them, but then turns around and wants to use the military and CHANGE the definition of the sedition act to fit whatever he deems it fit for and that is seen as okay now? Yea.. that sound logical. Trump promotes actual militia to take up arms against the United States, yet some protesters are somehow worse than that? Oh and let's not forget Trump actually telling Russia to hack protected US government officials, A former First Lady and President of the United States, senator and secretary of state, which is an actual act of treason by definition, but no one did anything about that either?

Russians tried to hack Clinton server on day Trump urged email search

Prosecutors say spies began hacking on 27 July 2016 – but indictment does not suggest direct link with Trump’s request

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dreiko]

Yea, that makes TOTAL sense after Trump actually made a guy his campaign chair who led an actual armed insurrection takeover of a wildlife reserve and pardoned his buddies for it. Total sense.

Trump Campaign Official Arrested On Federal Charges Linked To Bundy Ranch

FBI agents arrested Jerry DeLemus, co-chair of Veterans for Trump in New...

talkingpointsmemo.com

More armed men arriving at Oregon wildlife refuge

BURNS, Ore. AP - A convoy of more than a dozen pickup trucks carrying armed men arrived at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon on Saturday.Some of the men carrying rifles told journalists they were there to help with security for the group that has occupi

komonews.com

Fresh outrage after militia seen rifling through tribal artifacts at Oregon refuge

Standoff leader posted a video of him looking through artifacts and documents from the Paiute tribe at the Malheur national wildlife refuge, sparking outrage

www.theguardian.com

Trump pardons Oregon ranchers who sparked 2016 militia standoff

Dwight and Steven Hammond's case sparked a 41-day standoff between armed militiamen and the FBI.

www.bbc.com

So let me get this straight, ACTUAL armed militia take over federal buildings in a stand off with federal agents and commit actual sedition by the definition and proper use of the act, destroying and damaging irreplaceable artifacts and Trump appoints them to be part of his campaign and then pardons them, but then turns around and wants to use the military and CHANGE the definition of the sedition act to fit whatever he deems it fit for and that is seen as okay now? Yea.. that sound logical.

People don't care if a couple of hillbillies take over some random government building, they care if you take over a couple of blocks of a city that they actually live and own businesses at.

 

[stroopwafel]

Personally I'm really against vague laws. It's pretty much blanket legislation you can put anything under. The homeland security act is also horribly abused. It's to be expected though. You give a government a finger and they take the entire arm.

 

[lil devils x]

People don't care if a couple of hillbillies take over some random government building, they care if you take over a couple of blocks of a city that they actually live and own businesses at.

People DID care, that wasn't some unoccupied area, that was tribal property as well that was supposed to be protected by the United states under order of the constitution, so technically they were creating an international incident by damaging tribal property. This was an actual armed militia and they did irreparable damage. You saying no one cared isn't accurate. Your saying NO one TRUMP cared about is accurate. Trump cares nothing for the tribes or his duties to them as defined by the constitution he swore an oath to uphold. The US government was REQUIRED to act due to the nature of the property in question. It wasn't optional according to US treaty. The US federal government is not required to act on some protesters burning down a police station, that is local and state officials business unless they ask for help. Trump is trying to change the law to give him a reason to act, but at the same time ignores his actual constitutionally bound duties.

 

[Dreiko]

People DID care, that wasn't some unoccupied area, that was tribal property as well that was supposed to be protected by the United states under order of the constitution, so technically they were creating an international incident by damaging tribal property. This was an actual armed militia and they did irreparable damage. You saying no one cared isn't accurate. Your saying NO one TRUMP cared about is accurate. Trump cares nothing for the tribes or his duties to them as defined by the constitution he swore an oath to uphold. The US government was REQUIRED to act due to the nature of the property in question. It wasn't optional according to US treaty. The US federal government is not required to act on some protesters burning down a police station, that is local and state officials business unless they ask for help. Trump is trying to change the law to give him a reason to act, but at the same time ignores his actual constitutionally bound duties.

At the time it was Obama who was president when the Bundy thing happened though, right? And wasn't Obama the guy who ended up screwing the water protectors out of their sacred river and what have you? I don't see Trump as doing anything more than being part of the continuum of how they treat those poor people honestly, only the bit with the oil pipeline was a million times worse cause you had them actually camping out there and protesting and the government still cracked down whereas there wasn't any opposition to the Bundy people outside of the police they were at a standoff with, no other citizens were directly present in their hillbilly antics.

 

[lil devils x]

At the time it was Obama who was president when the Bundy thing happened though, right? And wasn't Obama the guy who ended up screwing the water protectors out of their sacred river and what have you? I don't see Trump as doing anything more than being part of the continuum of how they treat those poor people honestly, only the bit with the oil pipeline was a million times worse cause you had them actually camping out there and protesting and the government still cracked down whereas there wasn't any opposition to the Bundy people outside of the police they were at a standoff with, no other citizens were directly present in their hillbilly antics.

Yes, Obama WAS the president, however, Trump not only encouraged them for sedition against the US, he PARDONED the guys who led the stand off and hired them to lead his campaign in that region and did not make them pay their restitution to the tribe for the damages done.

Obama actually intervened on behalf of the standing rock protectors. You have that backwards, Trump is the one who removed them:

Obama did right by Standing Rock, but needs to finish the job

OPINION | We need a permanent stop to the Dakota Access pipeline, not a temporary one.

thehill.com

Trump Revives Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama (Published 2017)

The new president continued dismantling his predecessor’s policies by clearing the way for a project at the heart of the battle over climate change.

www.nytimes.com

Hard work 'in the trash': Standing Rock Sioux Tribe slams Trump on Dakota Access

To the surprise of almost no one, the Trump administration has affirmed its hasty approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline with a decision few have actually seen.

www.indianz.com

Without Obama, they would not have had any other recourse at that point. You are right the pipeline is worse, that is why Obama protected them. You are mistaking Trump's actions for Obamas you have that backwards. You are just further criticizing Trumps horrific actions, not Obama's here.

You like how private companies can release dogs to attack peaceful protestors? That is our Future under Trump. The wealthy with their private armies violating the law to attack those that stand in their way. Obama ordered the pipeline to cease and the Oil companies and their " private security" were pulling That BS anyhow. letting attack dogs attack people like that.

Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Protesters With Dogs and Mace

Democracy Now! provides video and photos of a private security team pushing dogs to bite Native American protesters

www.commondreams.org

The Republican governor and attorney general of North Dakota tried to charge the film crew for being there to film the illegal attack rather than prosecute the illegal dog handlers at the time.

 

[Dreiko]

Yes, Obama WAS the president, however, Trump not only encouraged them for sedition against the US, he PARDONED the guys who led the stand off and hired them to lead his campaign in that region and did not make them pay their restitution to the tribe for the damages done.

Obama actually intervened on behalf of the standing rock protectors. You have that backwards, Trump is the one who removed them:

Obama did right by Standing Rock, but needs to finish the job

OPINION | We need a permanent stop to the Dakota Access pipeline, not a temporary one.

thehill.com

Trump Revives Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama (Published 2017)

The new president continued dismantling his predecessor’s policies by clearing the way for a project at the heart of the battle over climate change.

www.nytimes.com

Hard work 'in the trash': Standing Rock Sioux Tribe slams Trump on Dakota Access

To the surprise of almost no one, the Trump administration has affirmed its hasty approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline with a decision few have actually seen.

www.indianz.com

Without Obama, they would not have had any other recourse at that point. You are right the pipeline is worse, that is why Obama protected them. You are mistaking Trump's actions for Obamas you have that backwards. You are just further criticizing Trumps horrific actions, not Obama's here.

From what I remember, Obama initially intervened to protect them and then later on kinda held his hands up while the private security forces of the oil company were abusing them and planting guns in trucks and so on. In any case though, this is the first time I see a native people angle to the Bundy situation in fact so I'm kinda confused. I heard a lot of coverage of it, most from the lefty side of things, and nobody brought that point up before.


As for the pardoning, that's him throwing red meat to his base more than anything, I don't think he cares either way about them.