WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) joined Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (TX-24) in introducing the Stop Financial Underwriting of Nefarious Demonstrations and Extremist Riots (Stop FUNDERs) Act, which would add rioting as defined by the federal anti-riot statute to the list of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act predicate offenses, allowing the Department of Justice to use the full suite of RICO tools against entities who fund or coordinate violent interstate riots:

“Radical, left-wing groups who fund acts of violence, coordinate attacks against law enforcement, and spearhead the destruction of property must be stopped,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This legislation would add rioting to the list of racketeering offenses to crack down on this lawless behavior while ensuring the First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceful protest are protected.”

“Every American has the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest, but not to commit violence,” said Sen. Cruz. “Domestic NGOs and foreign adversaries fund and use riots in the United States to undermine the security and prosperity of Americans. My legislation will give the Department of Justice the tools it needs to hold them accountable, and I urge colleagues to pass it expeditiously.”

“The standard of treating violent, extremist activists as individual criminals must end. It is time we empower our law enforcement with a commonsense tool to treat these violent mobs, their funding sources, and their organizers as the criminal enterprises they are by passing the Stop FUNDERS Act,” said Rep. Van Duyne. “Since the days of the George Floyd riots, to the violence we see across American cities and college campuses today, it is obvious there are well funded, well outfitted, and highly coordinated efforts to plan and execute violent and potentially deadly missions of chaos and mayhem. This is organized crime, and we need to attack it as such.”

Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Mike Lee (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Josh Hawley (R- MO) cosponsored this legislation in the Senate.

Background:

During the recent riots in Los Angeles, left-wing groups openly coordinated and assisted violent rioters who destroyed property and attacked police. For example, some groups coordinated providing protective equipment to rioters so they could withstand crowd control munitions and assault police. 

The Stop FUNDERs Act would:

• Amend 18 U.S.C. § 1961(1) to add “rioting,” as defined in the Anti-Riot Act, to the list of racketeering predicate offenses;
• Enable the Department of Justice to use RICO tools, including joint liability and group prosecution, conspiracy charges, asset forfeiture, and enhanced criminal penalties, against organizations and individuals who repeatedly fund or coordinate violent interstate riots;
• And deter abuse of nonprofit status and expose hidden financial pipelines behind politically motivated violence.

This bill is endorsed by Heritage Action and the National Right to Work Committee.