Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Trump administration planned to take a hard line against demonstrators.
“You spit on a federal law enforcement officer no more,” she said. “As President Trump said, you spit. we hit. Get ready. If you spit on a federal law enforcement officer, we are going to charge you with a crime federally. You are looking at up to five years maximum in prison.”
The Trump administration’s decisive treatment of demonstrators — and the president’s focus on punishing those who assault police officers — stands in contrast to his sweeping pardons for roughly 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking to overturn the election.