Threats Against Members of Congress, Staff Up for Second Straight Year
WASHINGTON — The number of “concerning statements and direct threats” against members of Congress, their families and congressional staffers rose for the second year in a row, according to numbers released by the U.S. Capitol Police on Monday.
All told, there were 9,474 cases that were investigated by the department’s threat assessment section last year, up from 8,008 in 2023 and 7,501 in 2022.
If there was any consolation in the figures, it was that the number for 2024 was lower than the record 9,625 cases investigated in 2021, and that the latest rise coincided with an election year, when the department anticipates seeing a bump in the numbers.
Still, even a single case is alarming, and the number is more than double the 3,929 concerning cases that were investigated in 2017.
“We must continue to enhance our protective and intelligence operations to keep up with this evolving threat environment,” Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said in a statement accompanying the release of the numbers.
He noted that the department has completed all 103 of the inspector general recommendations on safety that it received in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol, but, he added, “We must keep working to ensure the safety of the Congress while the members are away from Capitol grounds.”
Members of Congress of both political parties receive a wide range of threats and concerning statements that are sent through the mail, email, telephone, social media and the internet.
People continue to have a false sense of anonymity on social media, which has resulted in more investigations during the past several years, the department said.
Once a concerning threat is identified, special agents with the Capitol Police partner with federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the country to investigate and address them.
To enhance these efforts, the department recently launched a new Protective Intelligence Operations Center, which receives and processes reports regarding the safety of the members of Congress.
As the Protective Intelligence Operations Center grows, it will help improve the department’s protective and intelligence operations by evaluating directions of interest and threat cases to assess behaviors, a release from the department said.
Cases that require additional investigative action are referred to the department’s Investigations Division.
The Capitol Police also continue to work closely with the offices of the House and Senate sergeants at arms to enhance security for members at their homes and during congressional events.
For all this, the department said, “Decreasing violent political rhetoric is one of the best ways to decrease the number of threats across the country.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
