Bill expands domestic terrorism to include property damage, lowering prosecution threshold
H.R. 8843 — FAFO Act · Filed by John McGuire (R-VA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced May 15, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the federal definition of domestic terrorism to include acts that damage property (not just endanger human life) and that obstruct law enforcement, first responders, or people seeking medical care. Currently, domestic terrorism requires acts dangerous to human life; this expands it to include significant property damage as a standalone trigger, potentially capturing protest-related vandalism, property destruction at demonstrations, or obstruction of emergency services.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a statutory amendment that broadens the federal definition of domestic terrorism to include property damage and obstruction of emergency services as standalone predicates, lowering the threshold for terrorism prosecution and enhancing penalties for conduct previously charged as standard crime.
What the text implies
- Property damage at protests, demonstrations, or civil unrest could now be prosecuted as federal terrorism rather than state property crimes, triggering mandatory minimums and terrorism sentencing enhancements.
- Obstruction of law enforcement or first responders becomes a terrorism predicate even absent property damage or human-life endangerment, potentially capturing interference with police during arrests or with paramedics at accident scenes.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
The bill lowers the threshold for federal terrorism prosecution by making property damage alone (without endangering human life) sufficient to trigger the definition, and by criminalizing obstruction of law enforcement or first responders. This expands the scope of conduct prosecutable as terrorism, potentially capturing protest-related vandalism, property destruction, or interference with emergency services that would otherwise be charged as standard crimes.