Rep. Jackson: Previous lawmaker threats have not been thoroughly probed

The U.S. Capitol Police offered reassurances to lawmakers and staff
Thursday about their protection, but one lawmaker said his colleagues
don’t think threats against them receive enough investigation.

Rep.
Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said he’s spoken to lawmakers who are
unsatisfied with the response of police and the FBI to threats.

{mosads}He
made the comment after a somber briefing by police and FBI officials,
who took questions from staff and members about how to address threats
against them and how to improve their security.

Capitol Police
Chief Philip Morse said he was unaware of any criticism of how the
department has handled threats to lawmakers. He emphasized to reporters
that members and staff should contact the Capitol Police immediately if
they are not satisfied with how a reported threat has been handled.

“If
anyone has an issue with what we are doing, they need to contact me and
we’ll make sure that we address the issues that they have,” said Morse.
“We’re working very hard. I’ve been here 26 years working, and I take a
great deal of pride in making sure this institution is safe, so if any
one has issues please get a hold of us so we can resolve them right
away.”

Saturday’s shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.)
at a public event in her home district has caused lawmakers to
re-evaluate their security. It has also set off a period of
introspection for the police who protect them.

“We all wish we
could have changed it,” Senate Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer said of
the violence that left six people dead, including a staffer for the
congresswoman. “All of us in the law enforcement business feel like
failures when anybody gets murdered, but there’s going to be these
events where there’s not going to be much police around.”

Gainer
said the assassination attempt was an anomaly; the last member of
Congress to be murdered was in 1978. He also appeared to dismiss one
security suggestion: assigning a police officer to every member of
Congress. 

Gainer said that the millions of dollars that effort
would cost would be better spent on the healthcare system. Giffords’s
alleged shooter is a 22-year-old college dropout who has reportedly had
a series of mental-health issues. 

“If we had that type of money,
there are a lot of other places we could put it, [and] healthcare is
one of them,” said Gainer. “If there was a better healthcare system, he
would’ve been in the healthcare system and never have been in that
parking lot.” 

Jackson’s comments suggested unease among at least some members about their protection. 

Wednesday’s
meetings came as several members reported receiving recent threats and
at least one lawmaker announced plans to move his office into a more
secure area in his district. Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) office
said earlier this week that the FBI had arrested a man who allegedly
made threats against him, and the Seattle Times reported on Wednesday
that another man was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill Rep.
Jim McDermott (D-Wash.).

Jackson told reporters after the
closed-door House briefing that some of his colleagues were not
satisfied with the degree to which officials probe threatening
incidents. 

“There are other members of Congress who are now
speaking [and] suggesting incidents that have happened to them that
have not been thoroughly investigated,” he said. 

A number of death threats received media attention during the last days of the healthcare debate. 

Former
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), an opponent of abortion rights, released
death threats he’d received to the media after he came out in support
of the healthcare bill.

Stupak initially opposed the legislation
because he did not think the language in it preventing federal funds
from being used to pay for abortions was strong enough. Stupak signed
on to the bill after that language was changed. 

Other lawmakers who received death threats included former Reps. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) and Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.). 

House
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has yet to weigh in on what steps the
lower chamber will take to better ensure the security of members and
their staffs, saying only that he would rely on the recommendations of
Capitol Police and the House sergeant at arms.

Besides Gainer and
Morse, FBI Executive Assistant Director Shawn Henry and House Sergeant
at Arms Bill Livingood attended Wednesday’s meetings. They told
lawmakers and staff to notify the Capitol Police of any possible threat
made against them. 

While the Capitol’s security is fortified by
the 1,800-person Capitol Police force, district staffers are largely
dependent on local and state law enforcement for their protection.
Gainer said that if a member had consulted with him and Morse about an
event like the one Giffords held — with no existing threats to her and
a small group of people in front of a grocery store on a Saturday
morning — he would have advised the lawmaker to contact the local
police and coordinate protection through them.

Morse and Gainer
on Wednesday advised members and staff to develop a plan for what they
would do in the event of another shooting during a public meeting. The
plan should include noting the traffic patterns around the event’s site
and the easiest escape route, the closest medical facility and several
possible ways to ensure crowd control if it became panicked. 

Jackson
has proposed reversing a Republican-led vote last week that cut the
office budgets of lawmakers by 5 percent, saying that members can use
that money to move offices, buy security cameras and alarm systems and
reimburse local law enforcement officials.

“A member in their
district [is] vulnerable,” he said. “Our government, at the district
level, is vulnerable, and something needs to be done about it.”

He
also has proposed that the U.S. Marshals service take a stronger role
in protecting members of Congress while they are in their districts.

—This story was updated from a 2:15 p.m. version.