Chris Christie calls for RICO probe into Antifa rioters involved in 'multi-jurisdictional' crimes

Former New Jersey governor and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie suggested federal RICO charges could be worth pursuing for Antifa rioters who have organized and participated in events across multiple jurisdictions.

Christie discussed law and order in an appearance at radio host Erick Erickson's event in Atlanta, the Daily Signal reported.

Christie was asked about protests labeled "Stop Cop City" in Atlanta, where rioters destroyed property in the downtown core after the city council approved a training facility for police.

Rioters threw Molotov cocktails at construction equipment and police in March 2023, followed by multiple arrests and charges for financial crimes related to a fund set up to bail out protesters.

At least 40 suspects were charged with domestic terrorism, according to NPR, with Erickson pointing out that only two out of approximately 50 arrestees were actually from Georgia.

“Somebody has got to be paying the living expenses of these kids from New Jersey and New York and Washington state [who] have come down,” Erickson suggested.

“We need to be more aggressive about this,” Christie stated. “The U.S. attorney in Atlanta should be all over this."

“This is multi-jurisdictional in terms of the people who are perpetrating these acts. This is what the federal prosecuting system is made to deal with," he continued.

“RICO seems particularly appropriate in that circumstance, given that you obviously have some organization here, racketeering, and is corrupt,” the former governor added.

Christie reportedly pledged that if he were to become president, he would appoint an attorney general who would apply the law “without fear, without favor, and without partisanship.”

The Republican touted his work in New Jersey when he hired an attorney general and "got out of her way.”

He also recalled working with Democrats to restructure a county police department and stated that he offered to fire the whole department and start anew.

“They looked at me and said, ‘Governor, if you have the guts to do that, we’re with you.'"

“We fired them, the entire 320 members, all of them,” Christie explained. “We established a new police department. For the same amount of money, Erick, that we were spending on the 320, we got 450 new police officers. We trained them in community policing and violence de-escalation. And now, 11 years later, the murder rate in Camden is down 75%.”

The Newark-born politician also bragged about the lack of violence in Camden, New Jersey, during the George Floyd riots of 2020. Christie said “there were no riots, there was no violence,” in a city he said is “95% black and brown.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!