Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday said the Department of Justice will be using the Hobbs Act to prosecute rioters in Los Angeles who have vandalized businesses.

Congress passed the Hobbs Act in 1946 to combat racketeering in labor-management disputes, which were frequent at the time. The Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Culbert in 1978 that the Hobbs Act was not limited to acts of racketeering but included robbery and extortion traditionally addressed through state laws.

Bondi said a person convicted of a Hobbs Act robbery crime faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

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