As threats against officials increase, Homeland Security operating under heightened threat level

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says threats against lawmakers are on the rise and are getting more intense.

To address the ongoing threats against public officials, federal agents are working to address political violence and have put things into a higher threat preparation level.

According to officials, U.S. Capitol Police investigated more than 8,000 threats against public officials just last year, and the threats were, and are, being made across multiple platforms, including emails, voicemails and even social media.

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Channel 2 Washington Correspondent Kirstin Garriss spoke to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about what officials are doing to stop the growing political violence.

He told Garriss that threats against members of U.S. Congress aren’t new, but they are getting more intense for both parties.

This spring, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis released audio of a voicemail his office received over legislation that would ban the popular social media app TikTok.

“If you ban TikTok I will find you and shoot you,” the audio threatened.

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Former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was also attacked at their home.

The U.S. Capitol Police said the number of cases they investigated in 2023 was higher than 2022, though not the record. In 2021, the agency investigated 9,600 threats, the highest number in the past five years.

After the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally this past weekend, Mayorkas is warning Americans that domestic violent extremism is on the rise.

“The rhetoric itself creates a threat environment that is really quite dynamic and evolving,” he said during a White House briefing on Monday.

National Security expert Lester Munson told Channel 2 Action News this behavior isn’t limited to one political party.

“Both parties engage in some pretty vitriolic rhetoric about the other side,” Munson, a Fellow at the National Security Institute, said. “But I do think when we see what the result can be, as we did this weekend, many people just show a little bit more restraint.”

The U.S. Capitol Police say they’ve been working with federal, state and local agencies to protect members of Congress during both political conventions.

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