In the last month there have been more than 700 threats against members of Congress and 50 swatting incidents, according to the chief of the Capitol Police. Chief Tom Manger made the comments during a hearing regarding recent improvements to security at the Capitol, but he said his department still needs more resources as it deals with more than 8,000 threats per year.
As an example, he drew attention to the officers who work on congressional leadership protection details, which he described as “woefully understaffed.”
“We provide the protection at the level it needs to be. But you do that through officers working double shifts and averaging 50 hours of overtime every pay period,” Manger said.
Swatting is a false call to police designed to elicit a major response to a nonexistent emergency.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been the target of at least nine swatting incidents. Last weekend, an anonymous person with a Russian IP address told her hometown police department that they planted a bomb in her mailbox. An innocent bystander was killed in a car accident during the police response.
“Political violence is unacceptable and I think we have serious issues with it. I’ll also say this, you know, we don’t have enough police officers,” Greene said. “I really hope that that can change as soon as possible. I’d love to see police officers make more money. I’d love to see them have more resources.”
The Rome Police Department's Assistant Chief of Police received an email containing a bomb threat directed towards me.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) December 9, 2024
I’m so grateful to every member of the Rome Police Department for your swift and professional response in ensuring my safety. pic.twitter.com/JfJBSLBNIz
Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., has been living with threats for much of his life. His father, Rev. Jesse Jackson, received what was at the time a record number of threats when he ran for president in 1984 and 1988.
“This isn’t anything new to me. It’s nothing that you get comfortable with when you’re putting on your tie in the morning wondering if this is your last day,” Jackson said. “But you pick your head up and you leave out the house with no fear. And I just wouldn’t wish this on other persons that would be fearful, have trepidation and not seek to serve because of potential violence on their families.”
Manger said improvements have been made to his ability to protect the Capitol and lawmakers. For instance, he now has the authority to call the National Guard. He also has mutual aid agreements with local departments to protect lawmakers at home, and can reimburse the departments for their efforts.
But he needs more. For instance, he wants to double the number of officers who protect leadership from 250 to 500.
“Not only can we provide protection for the leadership 24/7, but when we have people that have threats against them that require us to stand up temporary details, we can do that,” Manger said. “Because right now, when we do it, we’re robbing Peter to pay Paul. We’re yanking somebody off another detail to stand up a detail to help someone for a temporary threat situation.”
The department has two resource intensive events in the near future, the certification of the election on Jan. 6 and the inauguration on Jan. 20.
