Gov. JB Pritzker’s (D-IL) incendiary speech last year calling on Democrats to organize massive civil unrest was the opening salvo in what has become a progressive war against the Trump administration’s enforcement of federal immigration laws. “It’s time to fight everywhere and all at once,” Pritzker told an assemblage of New Hampshire Democrats and donors, “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. The reckoning is finally here!”
A number of things struck me when I heard Pritzker’s speech. Was he calling for mass protests such as the 2020 George Floyd riots that caused at least 25 deaths and $2 billion in property damage? Who was he mobilizing, antifa? Was he calling for Portland-style sieges, where a Trump supporter was targeted and killed?
What did he want disrupted? Church services, airports, freeways, and bridges? Courtrooms, legislatures, government offices? Schools and universities? Lawful detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants?
In the year since Pritzker’s speech, we’ve received the answer: it’s all of the above.
Antifa radicals have ambushed an ICE facility, schools have been shuttered for “ICE Out” demonstrations, roads and airports have been blocked, rioting and arson have broken out in major cities, ICE officers are being violently attacked, and anti-ICE demonstrators injured and killed. According to Georgetown University’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, virtually all the tactics employed by anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement demonstrators in Minnesota and elsewhere are illegal. Under 18 U.S.C. 2261A, you can go to jail for stalking and surveilling public officials. Tracking ICE officers, doxxing them, and alerting suspects to their presence are all federal criminal offenses.
Investigative reports in the City Journal and New York Post cite anti-ICE tactics that violate federal laws. An in-depth article by the City Journal reveals the workings of the “Defend the 612” anti-ICE organization in Minneapolis. The report details how activists are trained in tactics that violate 18 U.S.C. 2261A. The New York Post article traces contributions from foreign billionaires that may have been channeled through charitable organizations to protest organizers. Federal officials could literally arrest protesters who employ these tactics en masse in cities across the United States. But why go after the little fish when there are ringleaders to be held responsible?
Contrary to popular misconception, there is no First Amendment right to incite lawlessness. In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled in Brandenburg v. Ohio that the First Amendment doesn’t protect speech that deliberately encourages or induces someone to break the law. JB Pritzker may thus bear more than moral responsibility for encouraging protests and disruption that have morphed into violence, death, and destruction. Pritzker incited mayhem, and mayhem ensued.
Nor is he alone. Pritzker and other Democratic governors formed a pact immediately after President Donald Trump’s election to organize resistance to the new administration. Governors Safeguarding Democracy was funded with seed money from California tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently asked the Justice Department to probe the network of organizations and individual donors reported to be backing the nationwide protests, citing possible foreign influence and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The Justice Department should investigate whether major Democratic donors and progressive foundations have knowingly funded the training of anti-ICE activists to interfere with federal law enforcement in violation of 18 U.S.C. 111 and related provisions of the law. If Democratic officials and donors were involved in encouraging and funding illegal interference with the enforcement of immigration laws and deportation orders, they can be prosecuted under Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations laws. A successful RICO prosecution requires that a group of individuals be joined in an enterprise that includes at least two associated crimes affecting commerce and that the individual charged knowingly facilitated the enterprise. Among the crimes specified under RICO are obstructing federal officers and aiding illegal immigrants.
FBI EXECUTES SEARCH WARRANT AT FULTON COUNTY ELECTION FACILITY
There is long-standing precedent for charging politicians with RICO offenses. The first RICO charges against a state public official occurred in 1980. When Republican Congressman Joe McDade was indicted under RICO in 1992, I was involved as his crisis communications counselor. Abbe Lowell and Sal Cognetti defended him. McDade was ultimately acquitted at trial. In the following decades, dozens of politicians and officials have been convicted under RICO statutes.
There is also recent precedent. Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis charged Trump and 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani, with bribing Georgia lawmakers under that state’s RICO statute.
Last spring, Pritzker urged Democrats to disrupt public order to thwart the Trump administration. If he and other Democratic leaders and donors helped raise the funds to support and organize the lawless protests, sponsor training of anti-ICE activists, and interfere with immigration enforcement they deserve to be investigated. If evidence of conspiracy exists, book ‘em!
John B. Roberts II served in the Reagan White House and was an international political strategist and executive producer of The McLaughlin Group. He is an author and artist.