Congress makes pitch for unity
But Ariz. delegation ponders whether security needs boost
A gunman’s attack on the Republican congressional baseball team Wednesday reignited a debate over security for rank-and-file lawmakers outside the U.S. Capitol.
The GOP team was practicing on a field in Alexandria, Virginia.
The security detail with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., is credited with limiting the carnage. Because Scalise, who was in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the hip, is a member of House leadership, he travels with security. Other members of Congress do not have such protection.
Two U.S. Capitol police officers, Crystal Griner and David Bailey, also were shot. The gunman, James T. Hodgkinson, was killed in the exchange of gunfire.
“Thank God for the Capitol police, because otherwise we would be mourning the loss of many of our colleagues right now,” Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who was an eyewitness to the attack, visited Griner and Bailey in the hospital and tweeted that he thanked them for saving his life.
Flake is in his 16th year playing on the GOP baseball team in the annual charity game against the Democrats.
As happened after the Jan. 8, 2011, assassination attempt on then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in which she sustained a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head, part of the national discussion quickly turned to whether congressional security needs to be strengthened.
While security at the Capitol is tight, it can be less so when lawmakers go off campus or when they mingle with their constituents back home.
“I don’t know what this means for security yet,” Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, DAriz., said. “I do expect we’ll have a conversation about what security looks like for standard members (and) for groups of members moving forward.”
Some members of Arizona’s congressional delegation pointed to a nasty political atmosphere as contributing to the anxiety of elected officials and their staffs.
Since President Donald Trump took office, Republicans have been under pressure from activist groups demanding town-hall meetings and angry voters constantly calling their offices about issues such as health care.
Several of the state’s members said their staffs had reported security matters to Capitol police in recent months. In May, the FBI arrested a man who left threatening messages on McSally’s office voicemail.
“After the man was arrested for threatening to kill me, I sadly stated to friends and staff that I thought it was only a matter of time before somebody took violent action against a public figure,” said McSally, who represents Giffords’ old southern Arizona congressional district.
“We have ‘die-ins’ outside our office, as if I’m waking up in the morning trying to figure out how to ensure that their family members or loved ones die,” McSally continued, her voice taking on a tone of exasperation. “Our district knows more than any about acts of violence against political figures.”
Flake said he heard from Mark Kelly, Giffords’ husband, Wednesday after the shooting. In a late-afternoon conference call with Arizona media, Flake said Kelly told him that Giffords had watched the morning news coverage and he wanted to reach out.
“Every office gets threats from time to time,” Flake said. “We tend not to speak publicly about them, but we do take them seriously. And I have to say, after the Gabby Giffords shooting, we’ve taken those threats more seriously.”
In April, Flake faced a hostile audience at a raucous town-hall meeting in Mesa. He said local law enforcement is cooperative for his public events.
“I was fortunate that the town hall that I had that got a little rowdy was in Mesa, and Mesa P.D. did a wonderful job,” Flake said. “A lot of people didn’t see all that they did. A lot of it was done quietly, behind the scenes, but I felt good about their presence there.”
Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., said no meaningful change will come until hatred is seen as out of bounds within the activist community. He pointed to an offensive message he received from someone wishing a health catastrophe upon his 20-month-old daughter, Olivia.
“I took her to a health-care forum on Saturday, which we had no security at, which was probably dumb,” Schweikert said. “In retrospect, with the stuff that had been coming into my office, it was dumb. We’ll keep going, but for at least a little while I’m going to be in a world where my wife and daughter won’t be coming with me, which actually kind of breaks my heart.”
Karin Cather, a Scottsdale resident and member of groups such as Indivisible CD 6, which has protested outside Schweikert’s offices, said she condemned the violence.
“We’re glad that Senator Flake is OK. We’re concerned about (Scalise),” Cather said. “We obviously are appalled. I called Senator Flake’s staff myself and sent an email and said we don’t agree politically, but we’re all part of the human family. Nobody should be shot. It’s horrible what happened to him.”
Cather said organizations such as Indivisible CD 6 and Stronger Together AZ are law-abiding and non-violent.
In a statement, Stronger Together AZ said it was “not a day for partisan politics.”
“We condemn such acts of violence. We offer our thoughts to those affected by the shooting and our hope that Rep. Scalise, Matt Mika, Zachary Barth, and Officers Krystal Griner and David Bailey have a speedy recovery,” the group said. “We also understand that Senator Flake was present at the baseball practice. We encourage any constituents who are calling Senator Flake’s office today to show courtesy and compassion during this difficult time. Despite our differences, we cannot resort to fearmongering.”
There is bipartisan agreement that public sentiment goes beyond partisan rancor.
“People are angrier. It is tense and it is uncertain,” Sinema said.
Sinema said she reported to police a campaign event last month that made her worry about her safety as well as that of her staffers.
“I have already been making adjustments to my behavior, which was already cautious before,” she said. “We have had incidents — several.”
McSally and Sinema, who have played on congressional softball teams, said there has been no security at those practices and games.
“The environment is extremely hot. The level of hatred that is out there in our country and our community is like I’ve not seen in my lifetime,” McSally said. “I’m extremely concerned about it for many reasons, not just safety and security.”
Retired Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who did not seek re-election in 2012, traveled with a security detail when he served as GOP whip and was the No. 2 Senate Republican.
The 10 top congressional leaders get the detail under a law designed to preserve continuity of government in the event that a mass-casualty attack or disaster wipes out Congress and the government needs to be reconstituted, Kyl said.
It would be cost-prohibitive to assign to security details to every member of Congress, he said.
There are already protocols to make sure Senate and House district offices have the right security, said Kyl, who also praised the Capitol police force.
“When a member is specifically threatened, as many of us are, they take action to do various things,” said Kyl, who served three terms in the Senate from 1995-2013. “I won’t discuss what they are, but they investigate and provide a level of assurance that things are going to be OK. And they put guys in jail.”
Freshman Rep. Tom O’Halleran, DAriz., said incidents like the Scalise shooting should not result in excessive barriers between Congress and the people they represent.
“Our main focus is on the victims and their families, but the other part of that is, how do we appropriately respond to this in a free society, making sure that people have good contact with their elected officials?” he said.
A man dropped a gun at a 2009 Giffords constituent event in Douglas and was subject to enhanced penalties because it was at a government site. That has led some members of Congress to hold many of their public appearances at similar locations.
Security is harder to ensure for campaign events, where there is a reluctance to impose a public-safety cost on taxpayers for someone running for office.
A police presence can also create images to suggest a hostility that a candidate’s opponent could exploit in a campaign.
Local police are typically not permitted to provide free security at campaign events for members of Congress. That creates an expense for cost-conscious campaigns.
Freshman Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., has had police at his town halls, he said, to protect him and his family as well as others who attend.
“We have people who won’t even come in to my office to meet with me because of some of the intimidation from people who have been protesting at my office from time to time,” Biggs said.
“The country is extremely divided right now,” he added. “It’s not that we expect people to unify on issues or anything like that. But ... there’s division that has just gotten way out of hand.”
O’Halleran, a former Chicago police detective, said he doesn’t anticipate making any security-related changes to his events.
“I hope we aren’t going to get to a position in our country where we have to worry about metal detectors at town halls and all this other stuff,” he said.
McSally also vowed to remain accessible to the people she represents.
“I don’t live in fear,” she said. “We’re not taking unnecessary risks, however. We’re mindful of the potential security environment, but I’m not going to stop engaging.
“That would be a horrific result of this — if we have members, public officials that are no longer able or willing to be accessible to the community.”