By AZ Mirror
A Republican lawmaker who watched as Trump supporters broke into and ransacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 wants to send Arizona protesters to prison for rioting if they damage property.
Under the proposal from state Sen. Mark Finchem, R-Prescott, Arizona’s legal definition of a riot would be changed to include when two or more people “recklessly use force or violence” in a way that damages another person’s property. Currently, a riot is limited to when two or more people use force or violence to disturb the public peace.
That would mean protesters could get charged with a class 5 felony, which carries with it between 6 months and 2 years in prison. On top of that, the proposal would also add inciting a riot to the legal definitions of racketeering and conspiracy, which could allow prosecutors to charge protesters with organized crime felonies, lengthening a prison sentence even further.
Arizona prosecutors have previously sought to lock up protesters by using laws aimed at cracking down on street gangs and organized crime. After a 2020 protest for police reform in downtown Phoenix, Maricopa County prosecutor April Sponsel told a grand jury that 15 people arrested were part of a street gang called ACAB — an acronym for the protest chant “All Cops Are Bastards.”
