The assassination of a Minnesota state representative and the attempted assassination of a state senator revealed, once again, just how easy it is to find and target elected officials. Aside from certain members of leadership, elected representatives at state and federal levels do not have security — they live their lives, get to and from work on their own. Additionally, many live in homes where their address is known to the public.
There are more than 7,300 state legislators in the 50 states and 535 members of Congress. States do not have enough resources to provide each member with a security detail, and neither does the federal government.
What kinds of protections do lawmakers receive?
On Tuesday, June 17, the Senate will receive a classified briefing on protections for federal lawmakers. As one lawmaker put it, they are just as exposed and don’t have any more security than Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated over the weekend of June 14, did.
Democratic leadership has called for higher security for members of Congress in general, but specifically for the Minnesota delegation.
At the federal level, lawmakers can use campaign accounts to pay for security or request a security detail from Capitol police for certain official events. Aside from that, they’re on their own.
In 2022, the House Sergeant at Arms started a program that gives members $10,000 for in-home security systems and $150 a month to include a monitoring service. As of 2024, just over half of lawmakers had taken advantage of it.
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Capitol Police report threats against Congress members rose in 2024 for the second consecutive year, investigating 9,474 statements of concern and direct threats against lawmakers.
Rising number of threats against members of Congress
The number of direct threats and concerning statements against members of Congress has increased substantially over the last decade. In 2017, there were 3,939. In 2024, there were 9,747. Threats are typically higher during election years — there was an increase of nearly 1,500 from 2023 to 2024.
It’s become such an issue that the Capitol Police created a new office called the Protective Intelligence Operations Center to receive and process reports regarding member safety.
The Capitol Police also hired prosecutors to work as special assistant U.S. attorneys focusing on threat cases. They are stationed in areas with the highest number of cases, including D.C., Florida and California. Each special attorney is currently handling 20 to 25 cases.
In state politics, some legislators take accessibility to another level. They often have home addresses, personal emails and telephone numbers listed in their biographies. It’s done to help serve constituents, but also to make the member appear more authentic and entrenched in the community.
In the wake of the attack, North Dakota removed that type of personal information from their members’ bios.
The threats are wearing. A Brennan Center report found more than 40% of state legislators experienced threats or attacks in the last three years. As a result, more than 40% said they were less willing to run for reelection or higher office.
Virginia House Del. Eileen Filler-Corn explained how it impacts them.
“We were going to help improve others’ lives. But we never thought our lives, or most importantly, our family members’ or significant others’ lives, would be in jeopardy,” Filler-Corn said. “I think you’re going to lose a lot of good people because of it.”