U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued a new memorandum instructing several agencies within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to aid in arresting and charging people with crimes if they protest or otherwise impede actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The memo is similar to one released last week by President Donald Trump, which details how his administration would target individuals deemed to be “Antifa,” following his designation of the nonexistent organization as a “domestic terrorist” group.
Like Trump’s memo, Bondi’s references supposed “riots” in American cities and a shooting at an ICE facility earlier this month, which killed two people who were being detained. Her memo also targets criticism of ICE by lawmakers, signaling that the directive will seek to quell speech rights.
The memo calls on multiple agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, to aid in the arrest and prosecution of individuals acting against ICE’s interests. It also establishes a “temporary ICE Protection Task Force” consisting of “state and local law enforcement officers protecting ICE facilities.”
“Enough is enough,” Bondi writes in her missive. “The Department of Justice will stand strong when federal law enforcement officers are attacked or threatened for doing their sworn duty.”
Bondi’s memo doesn’t elaborate on what it means for an agent to be “threatened,” but the fact that it includes criticism of ICE and the administration suggests that it could be broadly interpreted in a way that targets speech.
The memo directs the U.S. Attorney’s Office to “prosecute any individual” who “impedes or intimidates” ICE officers to the “fullest extent of the law,” including any person who “aids, abets, or conspires to commit these crimes, whether through funding, coordination, planning, or other means.”
Many of the orders within Bondi’s memo are already being carried out, Law Dork’s Chris Geidner reported, adding that the document “could be more of a P.R. show” to emphasize Trump’s orders last week.
Still, the barrage of memos and other orders from the Trump administration suggests an escalation of the government’s crackdown on dissent may be on its way. In an article published on the White House website on Tuesday, the Trump administration tried to justify sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, wrongly characterizing demonstrations in the city as acts of terrorism.
“The Radical Left’s reign of terror in Portland ends now, with President Donald J. Trump mobilizing federal resources to stop Antifa-led hellfire in its tracks,” reads the article, entitled “President Trump Deploys Federal Resources to Crush Violent Radical Left Terrorism in Portland.”
City and state officials filed a joint lawsuit this week seeking to stop Trump from ordering National Guard troops to Portland.
Within that lawsuit, the city of Portland and the state of Oregon said that such a mobilization would be an “unlawful deployment.”
Trump “lacks authority” under federal law, the plaintiffs contend, because presidents can only summon troops with the request of governors or in “circumstance of invasion, rebellion, or when federal laws cannot otherwise be executed.”
“None of those circumstances exist in Oregon,” the suit adds.
Despite Trump’s fearmongering, both the city and state are “stable,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said recently.
“Our local officials have been clear: we have the capacity to manage public safety without federal interference,” Rayfield explained in a statement. “Sending in 200 National Guard troops to guard a single building is not normal.”
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