Summary
- Congress
speeding security review after Charlie Kirk assassination. - GOP
leadership working with Sergeant at Arms on upgrades. - Threat
investigations of members rose to 9,474 in 2024. - Some
lawmakers canceled events citing security concerns.
The murder of political activist Charlie Kirk has refocused
attention on America’s problems with political violence and rekindled concerns
about their safety among public figures, including lawmakers, who worry they
may be the target of reprisals.
Members of Congress and other prominent political people are
worried about their safety in the wake of the shooting and the nation’s
problems stopping political violence, while authorities and public safety
agencies have been on high alert in the two days since Kirk’s death.
In the wake of Kirk’s passing, members of Congress from both
parties have petitioned the leadership for increased protection, and a number
of them have rescheduled or canceled outdoor events.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said she was
postponing a rally this weekend out of caution and respect for Kirk, South
Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running
for governor, told reporters she was canceling outdoor and public events for
the foreseeable future. A progressive group in Michigan canceled a town hall
planned for Friday that included Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Becca Balint due to
“an abundance of caution.”
“People are scared to death in this building. I mean, not
many of them will say it publicly, but they’re running to the Speaker talking
about security — and that’s a lot of Republicans,”
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a
Florida Democrat who was targeted in an assassination plot, told reporters.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said officials were expediting a
planned review of congressional member security after the shooting after
lawmakers in both parties started to come to him for more security funding.
“We’re in a deliberate review process right now to
determine what measures are appropriate, how much we could allocate for that.
We’ve got to protect people who run for public office or no one will, and
that’s heavy on our hearts and minds as we also work through the trauma of what
happened,”
Johnson told reporters on Thursday.
It occurs as a result of increased threats against
politicians, their families, and staff, and the fact that the U.S. Capitol
Police, the primary security force for members of Congress and their families,
do not have security details for all 435 members. Last year, there were about
9,500 threats and alarming remarks directed against MPs, compared to less than
4,000 in 2017.
This summer, Melissa Hortman, a former Democratic state
speaker of the Minnesota state house, and her husband were murdered in their
home on the same day that Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife
were shot several times; Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, had his
house burned down while he and his family were sleeping.
“You’re never going to have perfect security, that’s just
the reality of the world we live in,”
said Javed Ali, a former counterterrorism
official in federal government and associate professor of practice at the
University of Michigan.
“The most glaring indicator that is the fact that we
have four presidents assassinated and two near-misses in our country’s history.
“That’s the president, the most protected person on the
planet — and yet, there have been times where individuals have been able to
exploit the gaps in presidential security and then there are lots of other
attempts against other elected officials, cultural icons, political figures.”
Authorities identified the alleged shooter as Tyler
Robinson, age 22, but nothing is known about what motivated him to attack Kirk.
At a news conference on Friday, however, officials stated that they think he
acted alone, adding to the list of suspects who have threatened the nation and
its elected leaders from within.
“These are not attacks directed by terrorist groups from
foreign from overseas or foreign governments. These are all almost always lone
individuals operating on their own here in the United States,”
Ali said.
“How
do you how do you get inside the minds of people who are slowly getting angry
and radicalized and have these grievances banging around in their head?”
Although authorities have not yet disclosed Robinson’s
motivation, they claim to have discovered antifascist iconography and
references to video game and internet culture terminology engraved on bullet
casings from the rifle used in the incident. The cartridges bore phrases such
as “Hey fascist! “Catch!” which demonstrated Robinson’s
intention, according to Utah Governor Spencer Cox.
How does Capitol Police funding change under proposed plans?
The U.S. Capitol Police is requesting a budget increase of
14-15% from its current funding, raising its budget to approximately $840
million to $906 million.
The increase will help further the force’s mission towards a
protective model of law enforcement, including increasing officer numbers and
security measures. The funding would allow for more education and training of
officers, expanding intelligence gathering, threat-assessment, nationwide
jurisdiction, and operational readiness for large events such as presidential
inaugurations or certification of elections.
The expanded budget signifies the transition from simply
protecting the Capitol complex to protecting the members of Congress, including
during public events and travel across the country.
