AG Nominee Garland: Far-Left Rioting Of Federal Courthouses Is Less Of A Crime Because It’s At Night
Joe Biden’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland, claimed that far-left attacks on federal courthouses may not be classified as domestic terrorism because the attacks occurred at night while the court was closed.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) grilled the AG nominee, referring to attacks occurring in Seattle. “Let me ask you about assaults on federal property in places other than Washington, D.C. Portland for instance, Seattle,” Hawley asked. “Do you regard assaults on federal courthouses or other federal property as acts of domestic extremism, domestic terrorism?”
Garland responded by alleging that the January 6th Capitol incident was not necessarily the same as the far-left riots in Seattle.
“Well, senator, my own definition, which is about the same as the statutory definition is the use of violence or threats of violence in attempt to disrupt democratic processes.” Garland added, “So an attack on a courthouse while in operation, trying to prevent judges from actually deciding cases that plainly is, um, domestic extremism, um domestic terrorism.”
“An attack simply on government property at night or any other kind of circumstances is a clear crime and a serious one and should be punished,” Garland continued. “I don’t mean, I don’t know enough about the facts of the example you’re talking about, but that’s where I draw the line when it one is, both are criminal, but one is a core attack on our democratic institutions.”
Garland claimed that the U.S. is currently facing a worse crisis than what happened during the 90’s Oklahoma City bombing. The attack left 170 people dead.
“150 years after the Department’s founding, battling extremist attacks on our democratic institutions also remains central to the Department’s mission,” Garland said. “From 1995 to 1997, I supervised the prosecution of the perpetrators of the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, who sought to spark a revolution that would topple the Federal Government. If confirmed, I will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, a heinous attack that sought to disrupt a cornerstone of our democracy, the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.”
Garland stated that his first order of business as a potential AG was to prosecute rioters from the January 6th Incident.
“We begin with the people on the ground and we work our way up to those who are involved and further involved,” Garland said, adding later, “We also have to have a focus on what is happening all over the country and on where this could spread, and where this came from.”
