A bill in the U.S. Senate that would allow non-governmental organizations and other groups to be charged using the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act for funding or coordinating riots was introduced with the support of Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN).
Unveiled Tuesday by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Stop Financial Underwriting of Nefarious Demonstrations and Extremist Riots (Stop FUNDERS) Act would add the government’s existing definition of rioting to the list of offenses which can be used as a predicate for a RICO prosecution, allowing prosecutors to target those who organize riots with tools originally developed in the 1970s to prosecute organized crime.
President Donald Trump and those who helped him contest the 2020 election were notably prosecuted in Georgia using the state’s RICO statute by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The existing law cited within the bill is 18 U.S.C. 2101, which makes it a crime to intentionally incite, organize, encourage, or participate in a riot, or to aid or abet those who do, with additional provisions making it illegal to travel across state lines in order to riot. A riot is defined as an assembly of three or more individuals in which violence is committed by at least one person, or violence is threatened.
Those convicted on federal rioting charges face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.
Hagerty said in a statement that the legislation would allow prosecutors to target potential funders of recent riots seen across the nation.
“From anti-Semitic riots to violent anti-ICE attacks, those who fund and coordinate violent riots across our country must be held accountable,” stated Hagerty. “The Stop FUNDERs Act will give the Department of Justice the tools it needs to bring those facilitating and financing violence on our campuses and in our streets to account.”
While Cruz similarly suggested the law could bring justice to rioters, whose actions he noted are not covered by the First Amendment.
“Every American has the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, but not to commit violence,” said Cruz. “Domestic NGOs and foreign adversaries fund and use riots in the United States to undermine the security and prosperity of Americans.”
The legislation also has the support of Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), as well as U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24), who introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
Cruz and his colleagues introduced their legislation less than one month after the House Judiciary Committee began probing whether an organization which received more than $1 million in federal grants under the Biden administration, and is linked to the Democratic Party, used the money to “foment” the riots seen in Los Angeles, California, in response to federal immigration enforcement in June.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
The government should stop ALL funding of NGOs. IF an NGO is worth its salt, it will find a way to fund itself through the private sector.