For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
Oneindia App Download

Rare sedition charge gains interest after US Capitol attack

|
Google Oneindia News

New York, Jan 15: A Civil War-era sedition law being dusted off for potential use in the mob attack on the US Capitol was last successfully deployed a quarter-century ago in the prosecution of Islamic militants who plotted to bomb New York City landmarks.

riots

An Egyptian cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, and nine followers were convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy and other charges in a plot to blow up the United Nations, the FBI's building, and two tunnels and a bridge linking New York and New Jersey.

Donald Trump becomes first US President to be impeached twiceDonald Trump becomes first US President to be impeached twice

Applications of the law making it a crime to conspire to overthrow or forcefully destroy the government of the United States have been scant. But its use is being considered against the mob that killed a police officer and rampaged through the US Capitol last week.

Michael Sherwin, acting US attorney for DC, has said "all options are on the table," including sedition charges, against the Capitol invaders. "Certainly if you have an organized armed assault on the Capitol, or any government installation, it's absolutely a charge that can be brought," said Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor who secured convictions at Abdel-Rahman's 1995 trial.

India dealt with COVID-19, its economic consequences decisively: IMF chiefIndia dealt with COVID-19, its economic consequences decisively: IMF chief

The challenge, he said, is whether prosecutors can prove people conspired to use force. "In our case, conspiracy was a layup because of the nature of the terrorist cell we were targeting. In this case, can they show conspiratorial activity or was it one of these things that spontaneously combusted, which makes conspiracy harder to prove?" McCarthy said.

Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at the Fordham University School of Law, said sedition charges in an attack against the center of US government are even more appropriate than in the New York bombing plot. "Of course we should use it here.

Coronavirus cases: India records 15,590 new COVID-19 cases, 191 deaths in last 24 hours Coronavirus cases: India records 15,590 new COVID-19 cases, 191 deaths in last 24 hours

That's what this is, seditious conspiracy," she said. Prosecutors had scant evidence against Abdel-Rahman when they arrested him months after a bomb exploded in February 1993 at the World Trade Center, killing six people.

Recommended Video

Army Day: General Naravane warns China: Don't test patience | Oneindia News

Then-Manhattan US Attorney Mary Jo White went to Washington to convince the FBI and Attorney General Janet Reno that Abdel-Rahman should be charged with seditious conspiracy, a law enacted after the Civil War to arrest Southerners who might keep fighting the US government.

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X