TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 7 - ASSAULT
HEAD
Sec. 115. Influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a Federal
official by threatening or injuring a family member
STATUTE
(a)(1) Whoever -
(A) assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts or conspires to
kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a
member of the immediate family of a United States official, a
United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an
official whose killing would be a crime under section 1114 of
this title; or
(B) threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States
official, a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement
officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime under such
section,
with intent to impede, intimidate, or interfere with such official,
judge, or law enforcement officer while engaged in the performance
of official duties, or with intent to retaliate against such
official, judge, or law enforcement officer on account of the
performance of official duties, shall be punished as provided in
subsection (b).
(2) Whoever assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts or
conspires to kidnap or murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or
murder, any person who formerly served as a person designated in
paragraph (1), or a member of the immediate family of any person
who formerly served as a person designated in paragraph (1), with
intent to retaliate against such person on account of the
performance of official duties during the term of service of such
person, shall be punished as provided in subsection (b).
(b)(1) The punishment for an assault in violation of this section
is -
(A) a fine under this title; and
(B)(i) if the assault consists of a simple assault, a term of
imprisonment for not more than 1 year;
(ii) if the assault involved physical contact with the victim
of that assault or the intent to commit another felony, a term of
imprisonment for not more than 10 years;
(iii) if the assault resulted in bodily injury, a term of
imprisonment for not more than 20 years; or
(iv) if the assault resulted in serious bodily injury (as that
term is defined in section 1365 of this title, and including any
conduct that, if the conduct occurred in the special maritime and
territorial jurisdiction of the United States, would violate
section 2241 or 2242 of this title) or a dangerous weapon was
used during and in relation to the offense, a term of
imprisonment for not more than 30 years.
(2) A kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap
in violation of this section shall be punished as provided in
section 1201 of this title for the kidnapping or attempted
kidnapping of, or a conspiracy to kidnap, a person described in
section 1201(a)(5) of this title.
(3) A murder, attempted murder, or conspiracy to murder in
violation of this section shall be punished as provided in sections
1111, 1113, and 1117 of this title.
(4) A threat made in violation of this section shall be punished
by a fine under this title or imprisonment for a term of not more
than 10 years, or both, except that imprisonment for a threatened
assault shall not exceed 6 years.
(c) As used in this section, the term -
(1) "Federal law enforcement officer" means any officer, agent,
or employee of the United States authorized by law or by a
Government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention,
detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of
Federal criminal law;
(2) "immediate family member" of an individual means -
(A) his spouse, parent, brother or sister, child or person to
whom he stands in loco parentis; or
(B) any other person living in his household and related to
him by blood or marriage;
(3) "United States judge" means any judicial officer of the
United States, and includes a justice of the Supreme Court and a
United States magistrate judge; and
(4) "United States official" means the President, President-
elect, Vice President, Vice President-elect, a Member of
Congress, a member-elect of Congress, a member of the executive
branch who is the head of a department listed in 5 U.S.C. 101, or
the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
(d) This section shall not interfere with the investigative
authority of the United States Secret Service, as provided under
sections 3056, 871, and 879 of this title.
SOURCE
(Added Pub. L. 98-473, title II, Sec. 1008(a), Oct. 12, 1984, 98
Stat. 2140; amended Pub. L. 99-646, Secs. 37(a), 60, Nov. 10, 1986,
100 Stat. 3599, 3613; Pub. L. 100-690, title VI, Sec. 6487(f)[b],
Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4386; Pub. L. 101-647, title XXXV, Sec.
3508, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4922; Pub. L. 101-650, title III,
Sec. 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117; Pub. L. 103-322, title
XXXIII, Secs. 330016(2)(C), 330021(1), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat.
2148, 2150; Pub. L. 104-132, title VII, Secs. 723(a), 727(b), Apr.
24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1300, 1302; Pub. L. 107-273, div. B, title IV,
Sec. 4002(b)(9), div. C, title I, Sec. 11008(c), Nov. 2, 2002, 116
Stat. 1808, 1818; Pub. L. 110-177, title II, Sec. 208(a), Jan. 7,
2008, 121 Stat. 2538.)
AMENDMENTS
2008 - Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 110-177 added par. (1) and struck
out former par. (1) which read as follows: "An assault in violation
of this section shall be punished as provided in section 111 of
this title."
2002 - Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 4002(b)(9),
substituted "or attempted kidnapping of, or a conspiracy to kidnap,
a person" for ", attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap of a
person".
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 107-273, Sec. 11008(c), substituted "10"
for "five" and "6" for "three".
1996 - Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(1),
inserted "or conspires" after "attempts".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 727(b)(1), which directed
insertion of ", or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, any
person who formerly served as a person designated in paragraph (1),
or" after "assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or
murder", was executed by making the substitution after "assaults,
kidnaps, or murders, or attempts or conspires to kidnap or murder"
to reflect the probable intent of Congress and the amendment by
Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(1). See below.
Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(1), inserted "or conspires" after
"attempts".
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(2), substituted ",
attempted kidnapping, or conspiracy to kidnap" for "or attempted
kidnapping" in two places.
Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 723(a)(3), substituted ",
attempted murder, or conspiracy to murder" and ", 1113, and 1117"
for "or attempted murder" and "and 1113", respectively.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104-132, Sec. 727(b)(2), added subsec. (d).
1994 - Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330021(1),
substituted "kidnapping" for "kidnaping" in two places.
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 103-322, Sec. 330016(2)(C), substituted
"fine under this title" for "fine of not more than $5,000".
1990 - Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 101-647 substituted "the Central"
for "The Central".
1988 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-690 amended subsec. (a)
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows:
"Whoever assaults, kidnaps, or murders, or attempts to kidnap or
murder, or threatens to assault, kidnap or murder a member of the
immediate family of a United States official, a United States
judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an official whose
killing would be a crime under section 1114 of this title, or
threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a United States official,
a United States judge, a Federal law enforcement officer, or an
official whose killing would be a crime under such section with
intent to impede, intimidate, interfere with, or retaliate against
such official, judge or law enforcement officer while engaged in or
on account of the performance of official duties, shall be punished
as provided in subsection (b)."
1986 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 60, substituted "section
1114 of this title, or threatens to assault, kidnap, or murder, a
United States official, a United States judge, a Federal law
enforcement officer, or an official whose killing would be a crime
under such section" for "18 U.S.C. 1114, as amended,", "while
engaged" for "while he is engaged", and "official duties" for "his
official duties".
Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 99-646, Sec. 37(a), inserted "for the
kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of a person described in section
1201(a)(5) of this title".
CHANGE OF NAME
Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director
of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director's capacity as
the head of the intelligence community deemed to be a reference to
the Director of National Intelligence. Reference to the Director of
Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency in the Director's capacity as the head of the Central
Intelligence Agency deemed to be a reference to the Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency. See section 1081(a), (b) of Pub. L.
108-458, set out as a note under section 401 of Title 50, War and
National Defense.
"United States magistrate judge" substituted for "United States
magistrate" in subsec. (c)(3) pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L.
101-650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary
and Judicial Procedure.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
For transfer of the functions, personnel, assets, and obligations
of the United States Secret Service, including the functions of the
Secretary of the Treasury relating thereto, to the Secretary of
Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see
sections 381, 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic
Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization
Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under
section 542 of Title 6.
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