After Minnesota killings, Capitol Hill representatives face stark reality about family safety

Majority members of the U S House and Senate were nowhere near Washington when a gunman went to the homes of two Minnesota state lawmakers killing two people and wounding two others And that s exactly what rattled U S representatives and senators They too weren t in Washington They were home for the weekend Police accuse Vance Boelter of killing Democratic state Minnesota Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Boelter is also accused of shooting Minnesota state Sen John Hoffman and his wife Yvette All at their homes And that s exactly what rattled U S senators and representatives They weren t in Washington MINNESOTA LAWMAKER HAPPENED TO BE ON VACATION WHEN MASKED SUSPECT KNOCKED ON DOOR Minnesota was jarring because the suspect went after family commented one House member who has faced threats and appealed for anonymity We re gone percent of the time There are no lines anymore Congress lives in the era of doxxing People sending pizzas to their houses a not-so-subtle way of saying I know where you live Swatting It freaks the lawmakers out But what shakes the members to the core is when a threat is directed at their families Maybe a message is sent to the school where their children attend Looming over the Minnesota massacre is the Congressional baseball practice shooting which nearly killed House Majority Leader Steve Scalise R-La Then there s the near-assassination of former Reps Gabrielle Giffords D-Ariz and Ron Barber D-Ariz We need to be proactive on our own declared one lawmaker to Fox who appealed they not be identified Not reactive Rep Hillary Scholten D-Mich canceled a town hall meeting with constituents this week after what went down in Minnesota After being made aware that my name was on a list connected to the contemporary tragic shooting in Minnesota my office has made the hard decision to postpone our planned town hall in Muskegon mentioned Scholten Out of an abundance of caution and to not divert additional law enforcement support away from protecting the broader masses at this time this is the responsible choice Personnel uncovered the names of dozens of House and Senate members on a list written by the alleged assassin This begs the question can congressional guard functionaries keep lawmakers safe SUSPECTED MINNESOTA LAWMAKER ASSASSIN VANCE BOELTER CAPTUREDOne Democrat applauded efforts by the U S Capitol Police USCP But the lawmaker pointed out it was physically impossible for the USCP to protect all members and their families both in Washington and in their home states or districts USCP record more than bona fide threats against lawmakers USCP processed just a fraction of those threats a decade ago Moreover there was zero information about the shooters at either the baseball practice or the Giffords rampage It s one thing to track the knowns The unknowns are even more scary So what are lawmakers to do Capitol guard officers and the U S Capitol Police briefed all senators on the threats they faced early Tuesday morning Sobering is how Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin D-Ill described the conversation The threat to society agents and families is very real and very widespread House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y and Rep Joe Morelle D-N Y the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La about the Members Representational Allowance or MRA That s a fund the House allocates to each member to run their office Jeffries and Morelle solicited Johnson to substantially increase the MRA so lawmakers could bolster defense services There s also discussion about scrubbing the personal information of lawmakers from the web or approving anti-doxxing bill The increase in violence the threats of violence against members didn't happen by accident It happened because of the coarseness of the debate commented Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N Y That means you can have all the safeguard you want But you can t change how people think What they decide to post online Or where they decide to go Sen Mike Lee R-Utah removed two social media posts about the Minnesota shootings amid a barrage of criticism from the left and the right Lee equated the shooting to Marxists and insinuated that Minnesota Gov Tim Walz D was partly to blame for the murders Sen Tina Smith D-Minn tracked down Lee in the Mike Mansfield room of the Capitol Monday night to express her displeasure about the posts Was he receptive to your concerns solicited Ryan Schmelz of Fox News Radio I would say he seemed surprised to be confronted replied Smith Sen Amy Klobuchar D-Minn also sought out Lee I explained him what I've revealed publicly That this isn't one bit funny for my state announced Klobuchar Sen Lee and I had a good discussion and I'm very glad he took it down Did he seem remorseful solicited yours truly Contrite questioned Lisa Desjardins of the PBS NewsHour I'm not going to go into our discussion or I wouldn't be able to get things done responded Klobuchar But I will just say he took it down Lee later ignored a question about why he removed the posts from colleague Tyler Olson So lawmakers find themselves again trying to lower the temperature And find solutions MINNESOTA LEADERS FIND CAR HAT BELONGING TO ASSASSIN SUSPECT VANCE BOELTER ON HIGHWAY IN 'FLUID' SEARCHIf there isn t action Rep Jared Moskowitz D-Fla is tinkering with forcing the House into a Secret Session to debate the right approach for congressional defense Such a resolution to move the House into a Secret Session demands a vote It is also privileged That means Moskowitz could go over the heads of House leaders and deposit the issue on the floor The House could potentially vote to table or kill the effort The House has not held a clandestine session since and only six such conclaves in the history of the republic If members vote nay they are on the record as opposing a secret session to discuss assurance But a consensus on what Congress wants or if the U S Capitol Police has the wherewithal to handle is a staggering proposal The USCP is charged with protecting members What about guarding lawmakers back in their districts And that s to say nothing of family members Moreover prevention representatives tell Fox there was a lot of criticism by members about the current safeguard posture from those who don t take advantage of current programs afforded them by the House and USCP They like to complain a lot stated one Republican source who commented numerous lawmakers failed to utilize precaution options Consider again why the Minnesota murders resonated so much on Capitol Hill Lawmakers are scared of stalkers and others who routinely threaten them But it s another level to target family members Specific politicians run for office to attain power Others for glory And chosen for good old masses organization CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPTheir families didn t run for anything Their names don t appear on the ballot On the committee door They aren t on the wall in the Rayburn House Office Building But the names and addresses of family members are on the internet And that s what freaks out lawmakers the bulk