LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The attack against Representative Ilhan Omar was not the only one against a member of Congress in the past week. Representative Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, said he was punched in the face on Friday by a man who crashed a private party at the Sundance Film Festival. Frost said the man told him President Trump would deport him. The man has been charged with assault. The police department that protects Congress and the U.S. Capitol investigated almost 15,000 cases last year. That's up from more than 9,000 in 2024. Thomas Manger is on the line. He was chief of the U.S. Capitol Police for four years, retiring last year, and he joins me now. Good morning, and thanks for being on the program.
THOMAS MANGER: Good morning.
FADEL: So why are threats increasing like this?
MANGER: Well, I think that it's the violent rhetoric that has heightened the threat environment. And this started, in my view, about 10 years ago, when politicians really on both sides of the aisle but certainly President Trump, when - and during his first run was really shocking some folks with some of the things that he said. But it has gotten worse since then. I mean, just the violent rhetoric from both sides of the aisle - to include the last presidential election, when you had one side that said, if my opponent wins, you won't have a country anymore. The other side said, democracy is on the ballot. So these very drastic predictions, you know, if the other side wins or loses is going to get people worked up.
FADEL: Do you see the increase in threats specific to one party? Is there one party in particular that's getting more than the other? And I'm asking as - you know, as a former police chief, just retiring last year.
MANGER: Yeah. We got nearly - my last year there, we got nearly 10,000 threats against members of Congress.
FADEL: Yeah.
MANGER: And it was both sides.
FADEL: Yeah.
MANGER: There are folks that have been radicalized through this rhetoric on both ends of the political spectrum.
FADEL: Now, you mentioned President Trump and his rhetoric. After this attack, we heard him not only not express concern but say to ABC News that Representative Omar is a fraud and, quote, "she probably had herself sprayed, knowing her." And he had no evidence for that comment. What do you make of that type of comment right after an attack like this?
MANGER: Well, it's not helpful at all. And it's very difficult when you have folks that believe that their cause is so important. And when you have - and it's really the elected officials themselves - to include the president, but it's elected officials on both sides of the aisle that will use the kind of rhetoric and violent metaphors when - you know, during campaigns and during other times when it is - their followers hear that. And some of the folks are just moved by it to thinking that they have to do something for their cause. And oftentimes, then it results in acts of violence against elected officials or people that are running for office. So it's really concerning that these elected officials continue to use this heightened rhetoric because the - what needs to happen is people need to just stop doing that.
FADEL: Now, Capitol Police protect the U.S. Capitol. Does the agency have a role in trying to keep lawmakers safe in their districts?
MANGER: Absolutely. This is something that changed after January 6, and I was part of not only protecting the elected officials in Congress while they were at the Capitol and in D.C., but while they were traveling, while they were in their home districts, while they were out in public, while there were continued threats and acts of violence that were occurring. So the Capitol Police have reached agreements with hundreds of local law enforcement agencies to assist them. So when a member of Congress is out speaking at a town hall meeting, the Capitol Police will reach out to that local jurisdiction and ask for assistance to provide a little bit more security. So this has been working very well.
FADEL: We'll have to leave it there. Thomas Manger is a former chief of the Capitol Police. Thank you very much.
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