July 1 (UPI) — A letter made public Friday indicates that U.S. Capitol Police are investigating more threatening messages directed at legislators this year than the total officers looked into in all of 2016.
The June 21 note, sent from Paul Irving, sergeant at arms for the U.S. House of Representatives, requested clarification from the Federal Election Commission about whether congressional leaders could use campaign funds for residential security.
Through June 21, Irving said, U.S. Capitol Police have investigated about 950 “threatening communication messages aimed at [lawmakers] because of their profile as elected representatives.”
The police department investigated about 900 such messages in all of 2016, Irving wrote.
“As you know, this vitriol has culminated in the tragic events of June 14, 2017 where Representative Steve Scalise and three other individuals were seriously wounded by a gunman whose acts were prompted because they were Members of Congress,” Irving wrote.
Irving’s letter acts on an idea put forth by U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., the Hill reported.
