Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan described a call from Attorney General William Barr to charge rioters and violent protesters with sedition as "chilling" and "the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration."
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Barr suggested during a call with federal prosecutors to charge protesters who've been arrested for violent acts with sedition. A New York Times report also said the Justice Department's civil rights division hinted at charging Durkan with criminal offenses for allowing protesters to demonstrate in a police-free zone, first referred to as CHAZ and then CHOP.
"This report is chilling and the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration. This is not a story about me. It's about the how this President and his Attorney General are willing to subvert the law and use the DOJ for political purposes," Durkan tweeted in response to The New York Times report.
"As a former U.S. Attorney, I took an oath of office to protect the Constitution. The DOJ cannot become a political weapon operated at the behest of the President to target those who have spoken out against his actions. That is an act of tyranny, not of democracy," Durkan tweeted.
Durkan said the reported threat would not distract her and added, "I will continue to fight for what I believe is right, and I will not be distracted by these threats from meeting the challenges facing our great city: a pandemic, an economic crisis, a climate crisis, and a civil rights reckoning."
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