Washington D.C. - Iowa Republican US Senator Joni Ernst has a proposal to restrict federal assistance to what she calls "anarchist jurisdictions".
City and state governments that allow autonomous zones such as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest in Seattle would lose federal funding under Ernst's plan
Her bill comes after a North Carolina Republican introduced a similar proposal in the House earlier this week.
Ernst's "Ending Taxpayer Funding of Anarchy Act" would restrict federal financial assistance to city or local governments that give up their powers to non-governmental actors and that do not provide services for police, fire or emergency medical needs as a result.
“Anarchy cannot continue on our streets. If city officials or state leaders fail to do their job and protect their citizens, the federal government – American taxpayers – aren’t going to pay for it,” Senator Ernst said in a statement. “Local officials are letting chaos continue in their streets, and in some cases, preventing law enforcement from protecting the public. That’s not the America I know or fought for. This bill is straight forward and holds local leaders accountable to the people.”
Ernst says the bill will prevent funding from going to cities that allow anarchist jurisdictions – like CHAZ – to continue.
CHAZ, which later changed its name to CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest), is a six block area taken over by Seattle protesters in the aftermath of George Floyd's death on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minn. The area was originally named the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).
The mayor of Seattle has said that police plan to return and shut down the zone after shooting were reported there recently.