Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday said the Department of Justice will be using the Hobbs Act to prosecute rioters in Los Angeles who have vandalized businesses.
Congress passed the Hobbs Act in 1946 to combat racketeering in labor-management disputes, which were frequent at the time. The Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Culbert in 1978 that the Hobbs Act was not limited to acts of racketeering but included robbery and extortion traditionally addressed through state laws.
Bondi said a person convicted of a Hobbs Act robbery crime faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
“We’ve been seeing on the news, all of these drug stores getting robbed, getting looted,” Bondi told reporters outside the White House. “The Apple Store just got raided. I mean, we’re all watching this live on the news. And this isn’t just looting to me – you think people just run in, take something, leave, and nothing happens.
“We’re using the Hobbs Act. We are charging robbery to protect Californians under this. If you loot a store, we are going to charge you with robbery under the Hobbs Act, and you’re looking at a maximum of 20 years in prison. But we’re going to prosecute you for that. Identifying people now. It’s a different world.”
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Author: Faith Novak
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