‘ABUSE OF POWER’

‘Act of Tyranny:’ Seattle Mayor Responds to AG Barr’s Suggestion to Charge Her Over Protests

The attorney general reportedly asked prosecutors to explore whether they could bring criminal charges against Durkan over this summer’s protests.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has hit out at Attorney General William Barr after he reportedly suggested that prosecutors should consider filing charges against her over the police-free zone set up at this summer’s protests in the city. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Barr had asked prosecutors in the Justice Department’s civil rights division to explore whether they could bring criminal charges against Durkan for allowing some residents to establish a police-free protest zone near the city’s downtown for weeks this summer. Durkan told CNN Wednesday night that the threat was “chilling, and the latest abuse of power from the Trump administration.” The mayor added: “That is an act of tyranny, not of democracy.” Late Wednesday, a DoJ spokesman denied that Barr had told prosecutors to explore the idea.