Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) is introducing legislation this week, Breitbart News has learned, to strip convicted rioters of federal unemployment benefits and have them pay the cost of federal policing of riots.
Banks’ legislation, known as the Support Peaceful Protest Act, would ensure that rioters convicted of violence, vandalism, or looting must pay restitution to cover the cost of federal law enforcement policing of the riot at which they were arrested.
In addition, Banks’ plan would mandate that convicted rioters become ineligible for federal unemployment benefits during the Chinese coronavirus crisis. Some are currently receiving hundreds of dollars in extra unemployment benefits.
“Antifa thugs are descending on suffering communities, disrupting peaceful protests and leaving violence, looting, and vandalism in their wake,” Banks said in a statement. “They turned Milwaukee, Seattle, and Portland into warzones, and now they’re moving the chaos to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Who knows which community is next?”
“Due to enhanced federal benefits, taxpayers are giving wages to jobless rioters that are destroying our communities,” Banks said. “We need to cut them off from their funding and make them feel the full financial consequences of their actions.”
Banks’ legislation comes as rioting has continued in Portland, Oregon and since broken out in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. In Kenosha, local law enforcement asked for 750 United States National Guard members to help restore law and order, but Gov. Tony Evers (D) only sent about 250.
On Thursday evening, Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters stood outside the White House and accosted attendees of President Donald Trump’s speech for the Republican National Convention (RNC). Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and State Rep. Vernon Jones (D-GA) were both harassed and surrounded by protesters.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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