{snip} The dramatic story of the summer of 2020 was the outbreak of riots and protests following the murder of George Floyd. More than a dozen people were killed and a billion or more dollars in damages were caused, including the destruction of many businesses. This cried out for a vigorous response.

{snip} Democratic prosecutors at the federal, state, and local levels have been scandalously soft on the many crimes committed in the course of those riots and protests.{snip}

The Biden administration has just added to this shameful spectacle by retroactively reducing the plea-bargained sentence in one of the most high-profile of those crimes {snip}

Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman were well-compensated attorneys in their early thirties when they joined the protesting mob in May 2020. Rahman was caught on tape throwing the firebomb into an unoccupied police car, and Mattis was arrested with more such improvised explosives in his car and was videotaped trying to hand them out to others. {snip} An unapologetic Rahman told reporters later, “The only way they hear us is through violence.”

Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman

{snip} Federal prosecutors sought to charge them with still more serious offenses for distribution but, in a shocking reversal, have now agreed to recommend a prison sentence of 18 to 24 months for charges carrying a maximum of five years. Even for a Justice Department that has bent over backwards to be lenient towards left-wing protesters while throwing the book at right-wing protesters, a retreat from a previous plea agreement is a dramatic display of favoritism for left-wing political violence.

{snip}