Attorney General William Barr advised U.S. attorneys in a conference call to get aggressive when charging protesters that may have been violent at demonstrations, according to TheWall Street Journal. He recommended prosecutors potentially charge them with federal crimes difficult to walk free from, like impeding a law-enforcement officer or plotting to overthrow the U.S. government. Barr said in the conference call that he predicts Black Lives Matter protests will ramp up in the lead up to the election and he advised attorneys to seek federal charges whenever they could. WSJ reports that more than 200 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the protests this year. The FBI has previously said those people were mostly opportunists taking advantage of the Black Lives Matter protests.
