Sixth Circuit: 18 U.S.C. § 2113 is mostly a Crime of Violence

For those of you following the great national debate about whether federal bank robbery and Hobbs Act robbery are crimes of violence/violent felonies, the Sixth Circuit has weighed in.

In United States v. William McBride, Jr., the Sixth Circuit ruled that "by intimidation" means the "defendant must at least know that his actions would create the impression in an ordinary person that resistance would be met by force." Thus it is akin to the threatened use of force.

The Sixth notes that the entirety of § 2113(a) is not categorically a crime of violence, that it is a divisible statute, and that portions can be violated without the use, attempted use, or threatened use of force.