Here’s How US Lawmakers are Enhancing Their Personal Protection

(Bloomberg) -- The violent assault on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their San Francisco home is the latest in a string of incidents that have driven lawmakers to boost their own personal protection.

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The speaker, who was in Washington at the time of the intrusion, has a designated security detail that protects her as a leader in Congress. But that’s not the case for many of her colleagues.

House Sergeant at Arms William Walker announced a new program this summer that would pay for $10,000 to install or enhance equipment in lawmakers’ residences, as well as monthly maintenance and monitoring costs.

“This program will strengthen the security of Members of the House of Representatives and their families,” Walker wrote in the July letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

Some frequently targeted lawmakers have further boosted their security.

Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans on the panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, has used campaign money to pay for personal security. She and other members of the Jan. 6 panel also have protective security details.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, has previously said she uses campaign funds to pay for additional security due to concerns for her safety because of threats on her life. In July, she faulted the police response after she was harassed by a right-wing agitator who recorded a video of himself making vulgar comments about her as she entered the US Capitol.

Earlier this year, US Capitol Police reported in excess of 9,600 threats against lawmakers in 2021, more than double the number recorded in 2017. And between Jan. 1 and March of this year, USCP had opened another 1,820 new cases, some of which included “concerning statements and threats.”

Police checked on the Pelosi house after a 911 emergency dispatcher took a call early Friday, and officers found Paul Pelosi, 82, and the alleged assailant, David DePape, struggling over a hammer. DePape, 42, then struck Pelosi in the head and body before being subdued and arrested, San Francisco police chief William Scott said.

DePape will be charged with a variety of felonies, including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse, Scott said. He said the motive for the attack was still being investigated.

The assault at Pelosi’s home follows other high-profile incidents. On Friday, a Pennsylvania man named Joshua Hall pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell of California on Aug. 29 in a series of phone calls, leading to his arrest that day.

Hall told the lawmaker’s staffers that he had a number of AR-15 rifles and planned to come to the congressman’s office and kill him, according to a Justice Department press release.

In July, man was arrested outside the Seattle home of Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal with a handgun. And Republican Representative Lee Zeldin of New York, who is running for governor, was attacked that same month during a campaign event. Zeldin struggled with the man and others were able to help subdue him.

Read more: Paul Pelosi Attacker Faces Multiple Charges After Hammer Assault

Senators have debated security improvements for judges, lawmakers and their families after a man was arrested outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and charged with attempted murder in June, ahead of the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky blocked a bill to protect judges and their immediate family members from having their personal information, including their addresses, posted online. He insisted that members of Congress and their immediate families should have the same protection.

Paul, who was on the baseball field when Representative Steve Scalise was shot at a practice in 2017 and suffered broken ribs when he was attacked by a neighbor, said in June on the Senate floor that the 2011 shooting of then-Representative Gabby Giffords “should have been a wake-up call” on the need to improve security for lawmakers and those around them.

--With assistance from Steven T. Dennis and Jarrell Dillard.

(Updates with Swalwell starting in11th paragraph)

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