WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT OUR SOCIETY WHEN PUBLIC SERVICE BECOMES DANGEROUS? by Allan Brownfeld

WHAT DOES IT SAY ABOUT OUR SOCIETY WHEN PUBLIC SERVICE BECOMES DANGEROUS? BY ALLAN C. BROWNFELD —————————————————————————————————————————- Holding political office and other public policy positions did not used to involve physical danger. In the years I worked in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, I do not remember any Senators or Congressmen receiving death threats or being forced to hire private security. Sadly, those days are now over. Between the 2020 election and the 2022 midterms, candidates running for House and Senate seats increased spending on security by more than 500 per cent. This reflects the dramatic rise in threats against elected officials in recent years and the country’s hyper-partisan political climate. In an atmosphere in which Republicans and Democrats view one another as “enemies,” rather than common participants in our democratic enterprise, as they did in the past, acts of violence become increasingly possible. Spending on security in the House and Senate rose from $1.3 million to nearly $8 million between 2020 and 2022. House members have also spent more of the annual government allowance they are given to fund their offices on security with such funding rising from about $75,000 in 2020 to $1.2 million in 2022. Members of Congress were shaken by the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,2021 in hopes of overturning the 2020 election results. The crowd threatened to kill officials who stood in their way. “Hang Mike Pence” was a common expression of this attitude. Discussing the vulnerability of members of Congress, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) says, “We’re asking them to do a difficult job…They’re dealing with somewhat of a stressful environment already, and then when their physical safety is threatened, you know, you need to make sure you’re taking care of your folks.” Acts of violence have occurred. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) was shot by a left-wing extremist. Far-right extremists plotted to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D). Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, was assaulted with a hammer in their San Francisco home. The assailant was looking for Rep. Pelosi, then House Speaker, who was not at home. When a House committee was investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, threats against committee members were so high that U.S. Capitol police “worked out a contract with local law enforcement to provide 24-hour protection at our home when members were in the district,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MIssissippi), chairman of the House committee. The department also opened remote offices across the country since Jan. 6 to closely monitor regional threats, with locations in Florida, California, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Texas. Capitol Police chief Thomas Manger has testified to Congress that the force is still stretched too thin given staffing shortages and the ongoing number of threats. In May, he told lawmakers that roughly 400 officers had quit since Jan. 6. In 2016, the Capitol Police tracked fewer than 900 threats made against lawmakers. The number grew to 3,930 in 2017, and rose to 8,600 in 2020. In 2021, almost 10,000 threats were assessed by Capitol Police. Threats dropped to 7,500 last year, still eight times more than in 2016. We could fill pages with examples of attacks on and threats against public officials. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was confronted with shouted personal insults and the threat, “We know where you live.” Trump Administration press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family were forced out of a restaurant and denied service amid vocal protests. One individual, Craig Robertson, threatened to assassinate President Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Threats of violence are not only aimed at public officials but, unfortunately, even come from some. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) accused the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, of being a “traitor,” and said he “should be hung.” And former President Donald Trump attacked Gen. Milley and said that, “In times gone by the punishment would have been death.” In response to these comments, Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, at one time commander of U.S. troops in Europe, who called them “disgusting,” said, “It shows how deeply disturbed these individuals are. It just shows the extent to which these kinds of things have become commonplace and not condemned in our divided country.” In the case of Rep. Gosar, Gen. Hertling points out that he had at one time posted images of himself killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-Cortez and attacking President Biden. Mr. Gosar never served in the military himself. In response to these attacks, Gen. Milley said, “I’m a soldier. I’ve been faithful and loyal to the Constitution of the United States for 44 1/2 years. You know, as much as these comments are directed at me, it’s also directed at the institution of the military.” Asked if he was worried about his safety, Gen. Milley replied: “I’ve got adequate safety precautions. I wish those comments had not been made, but they were. And we’ll take appropriate measures to ensure safety and the safety of my family.” Katherine Keneally, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue recently tracked threats from some Trump supporters against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as he faced criticism for telling New Hampshire voters that he was going to start “slitting throats of these deep throat people.” It’s not just federal officials who are being targeted. A recent University of San Diego study surveyed local public officials in that city and found that 75% reported receiving threats and harassment. Women, it found, are disproportionately impacted. Jake Spano, mayor in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park and a board member of the National League of Cities, points to a report in 2021 finding that 81% of local elected officials reported receiving threats and 87% saw the Last year, a man was arrested with knives and a pistol outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh amid protests against the high court overturning women’s right to obtain abortions. Then an armed Ohio man in body armor who had been at the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was shot and killed after trying to enter an F.B.I. office following that agency’s search at Donald Trump’s resort, , Mar-a-Lago. Michael German, a former F.B.I. agent who is now a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice, said that social media can transform private venting into becoming threats: “Things that may have been screamed at the t.v. before now appear widely in public.” Americans often forget how fragile democracy is. As we approach our 250th anniversary, we are the only country in the world living under the same form of government which existed 250 years ago. Historically, democracies in history, such as ancient Athens and Rome, were short-lived. Today, our democracy is under siege. Let us hope that honorable men and women, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, who may disagree on a variety of issues, will unite to make sure that our democratic society will endure. ##