After calling out the dangers of mob rule in a Senate floor speech Monday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is calling on Attorney General William Barr to get tough on "mob vigilantes" that are being allowed to destroy cities run by "feckless politicians" looking the other way.
"We cannot tolerate mob rule and we cannot allow it to go unpunished," Cotton said in his Senate speech. "While local authorities would usually take the lead in prosecuting these crimes, unfortunately many of them seem unwilling to stand up to the mob and uphold the rule of the law."
Cotton's speech cited a number of examples of lawless vandalism of public statues, while police failed to act.
"On Friday, a mob tore down another statue just a few blocks from here," Cotton said. "The police stood idly by and watched as rioters toppled it and set it on fire. One can only assume they were ordered not to intervene by Washington's left-wing mayor. But here's the thing: steps were already underway to move that statue lawfully; Washington's delegate in Congress had legislation to that effect.
"But mobs don’t care to negotiate, only to destroy.
"The delegate said, 'I have no doubt I could have gotten that bill through, but the people got here before due process." It's hard to imagine a more chilling summation of mob rule."
The speech preceded a letter from Cotton to AG Barr on Monday night, where he called for charges to be brought on those toppling and defacing public property and statues.
"It's past time to stop the mob; these vandals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Cotton's letter to AG Barr read. "Unfortunately, local authorities, who normally would prosecute such crimes, have proven unwilling in many cases to uphold the rule of law.
"In some cities, it appears that feckless politicians have directed police to stand idly by while mobs rampage.
"Thus, I urge the Department of Justice to bring charges against these criminals."
Cotton noted the criminals are doing some of the police work for law enforcement, filming and sharing their commission of crimes.
"They aren't exactly criminal masterminds, typically filming their crimes and posting the videos on social media," Cotton wrote to Barr.
Cotton has taken up the charge for law and order in the Senate of late, famously defending the use of the military to protect cities being been destroyed by rioters, looters, vandals, and arsonists.
"There must be consequences for mob violence," Cotton said in his speech. "Because if you give the mob an inch, it will take a mile.
"Witness the events of just this past weekend, where mobs tore down statues of George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant," he continued. "When you tear down statues of Washington and Grant, it's not about the Civil War — it's because you hate America.
"Some people have been asking, where is the line? I say, this is the line — the line between mob rule and the rule of law," he concluded.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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