Rioters and looters would lose federal unemployment benefits and be forced to pay for extra policing needed at protests under a new bill being introduced by a military-veteran congressman.
“Antifa thugs are descending on suffering communities, disrupting peaceful protests and leaving violence, looting and vandalism in their wake,” Indiana rep. Jim Banks said while introducing his “Support Peaceful Protest Act” on Friday.
“They turned Milwaukee, Seattle and Portland into war zones, and now they’re moving the chaos to Kenosha, Wisconsin. Who knows which community is next?” he asked in a statement.
Banks — who was deployed to Afghanistan as a Supply Corps officer with the US Navy Reserve — wants to strip anyone convicted of federal offenses during protests of extra unemployment from the CARES Act helping jobless Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.
His law would also hold those convicted financially liable for paying the cost of law enforcement “in an amount that is equal to the cost of such policing activity,” the bill says.
“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.”
