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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defends idea of prosecuting
protesters
By Aleena Fayaz, CNN
Updated:
2:13 PM EDT, Wed September 17, 2025
Source: CNN
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended President
Donald Trump’s suggestion that protesters could be prosecuted for
racketeering, as the administration continues to it claims are inciting
violence.
Trump on Monday suggested that protesters who in downtown DC last week
could face charges under the , claiming that one of the protesters
involved was a “paid agitator.”
“I’ve asked (Attorney General Pam Bondi) to look into that in terms
of RICO, bringing RICO cases,” Trump said, speaking from the Oval
Office.“They should be put in jail, what they’re doing to this
country is really subversive.”
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday, Blanche
doubled down on the idea of “potential investigations” for
individuals protesting the president.
“So is it, again, sheer happenstance that individuals show up at a
restaurant where the president is trying to enjoy dinner in Washington,
DC, and accost him with vile words and vile anger? And meanwhile,
he’s simply trying to have dinner. Does it mean it’s just
completely random that they showed up? Maybe,” Blanche said on “The
Source.” “But to the extent that it’s part of an organized effort
to inflict harm and terror and damage to the United States, there’s
potential, potential investigations there.”
Pressed by Collins on whether the protesters were inflicting harm by
shouting at the president, Blanche said, “I mean, honestly, so
you’re asking whether there’s damage done by four individuals
screaming and yelling at the president of our United States while
he’s trying to have dinner? That can’t be a serious question.”
Trump last week made his first foray to an outside eatery in the
district since taking office in January, asserting that his
administration’s crackdown on crime was instrumental in his decision
to dine out. He was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice
President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Upon entering Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, Trump was met
with applause from diners. The president remarked to the group gathered
in the dining room that DC is “a safe city” and that they should
“enjoy” themselves.
As Trump was sitting down to dine, however, he was approached by
protesters chanting “Free DC” and “Free Palestine.”
In video obtained by CNN, a handful of protesters begin chanting,
“Free DC, free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time” as the
president makes his way through the dining room. The demonstrators are
booed by others dining in the restaurant, and the president ultimately
came within a few feet of the protesters before the video ends.
CNN witnessed the protesters being removed from the venue as they
continued to chant.
CODEPINK, the organization that protested at Trump’s dinner earlier
this month, said on Wednesday that the president is “trying to
intimidate people who speak up for peace and justice.”
“There is not some sort of big conspiracy around disruptions and
confrontations like at Joe’s. We practiced nonviolent and
non-threatening free speech. It is as simple as that,” the group said
in a statement. “Anyone who believes in free speech should be
appalled at this attempt to criminalize it.”
Blanche argued Tuesday the notion of prosecuting protesters did not
apply to “peaceful” individuals.
“There’s nothing wrong with peaceful protest, and nobody has ever
said so,” Blanche said. “Of all the people in this country,
President Trump knows exactly what it’s like to have people protest
against him. But what he’s talking about and what the administration
is talking about is organized efforts by individuals who are not
present at the protest, but they’re funding these protests, and
they’re not protests, they’re inflicting damage and harm.”
Blanche’s defense of the idea of prosecuting the protesters comes as
a host of administration officials have signaled in the wake of
conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination that what they
claim is a coordinated left-wing effort to incite violence.
The president on Monday said that he’d consider naming far-left
anti-fascism group Antifa as domestic terrorists, although it wasn’t
clear who or what exactly Trump would designate as Antifa is a loosely
organized movement without a distinct leader, membership lists or
structure.
Trump has also raised the possibility of revoking tax-exempt status for
liberal non-profits, and his attorney general and senior adviser have
raised the prospect of criminal charges against groups or individuals
who are allegedly targeting conservatives.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi pledged earlier in the week to go after
anyone who was targeting individuals with “hate speech,” but the
comments in a Tuesday post on X, saying, “Hate speech that crosses
the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First
Amendment.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Adam Cancryn, Donald Judd, Kristen Holmes,
Fredreka Schouten, Samantha Waldenberg and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
contributed to this report.
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