D.C. attorney general offers to seal records of more than 200 arrested during George Floyd protests

The office of D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine said that it would offer to seal the arrest records of roughly 220 people detained for violating curfew orders in June during protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

Racine, a Democrat, in his announcement Thursday, said his office would send letters about the offer to those arrested in June 2020 in Washington, D.C., according to The Washington Post.

Those who receive the letter already know they are not being prosecuted, and an affirmative response to the offer will result in the office filing a motion to seal the person's records.

The attorney general's office prosecuted only five people. Eighty others were arrested in the protests but are ineligible for the offer because they may have had previous arrest records.

"We are exercising our discretion not to prosecute you based upon an evaluation of the specific facts of your case and your criminal history, or lack thereof," reads a sample letter, the newspaper reports. "Please note that should you be rearrested for this offense – or any other offense – OAG may decide to prosecute you for that offense and/or oppose the sealing of your arrest."

A spokesperson for the attorney general said the office wanted to help make the process easier for those arrested to seal their records.

The spokesperson also said the office declined to prosecute the "vast majority" of protesters who were arrested in early June 2020 for violating the mayor’s curfew order "while peacefully protesting in the District."