Republican Representative Jim Banks of Indiana is going after Biden's Department of Justice after the agency dropped arson charges against a left-wing extremist that set fire to a NYPD police vehicle during the BLM riots of 2020.
Victor Sanchez-Santa, 21, was charged with arson in federal court after he allegedly stopped his car beside a marked NYPD vehicle on June 9, 2020, and placed a burning glove underneath it, according to the federal complaint filed against Sanchez-Santa.
Following his arrest, United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman commended local and federal law enforcement for their quick action in identifying the suspect, Breitbart News reports.
Despite arson charges carrying a minimum of five years in prison with a maximum of 20, Biden's Department of Justice dropped the charges in November 2021 after determining that "deferring prosecution" would be in the best interest of both the defendant and the United States.
Federal prosecutors ordered Victor Sanchez-Santa to nine months of probation and mandatory anger management classes.
According to court documents, United States Attorney T. Josiah Pertz ruled:
"Based on a review of the evidence in the case and information pertaining to this defendant acquired subsequent to the filing of the Indictment, the Government has concluded that further prosecution of VICTOR SANCHEZ-SANTA would not be in the interests of justice."
In a letter obtained by Breitbart News, representative Banks has requested Attorney General Merrick Garland send his office "all evidence in the case and information pertaining to this defendant acquired subsequent to the filing of the Indictment" that contributed to the DOJ's decision to drop charges, requesting them by June 24.
Biden's Department of Justice's decision "fits its pattern [of] lenient treatment of left-wing rioters," Banks stated in the letter.
"According to reporting from Politico, after you assumed office, the Justice Department showed a 'newfound willingness to resolve the Portland protest cases without criminal convictions,' and according to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department has declined to prosecute about half of all the rioters arrested on federal charges in Portland," the Indiana congressman stated.
Banks also called out Biden's double-standard for prosecuting January 6 defendants "to the harshest extent possible" while being lenient on left-wing rioters that destroyed American cities for months in 2020, Breitbart reports.
"Under your leadership, the Department of Justice is operating under a two-tiered system of justice," Banks said. "Violent rioters who are likely to vote Democrats are often released with a slap on the wrist, or less, while January 6th defendants are prosecuted to the harshest extent possible."
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