Threats against federal officials surging, Capitol police report shows

A report produced by federal investigators with the U.S. Capitol Police revealed the number of investigations into threats against Congress and the Capitol complex surged to the second-highest number on record in 2024, amid a toxic and menacing moment in American politics.

The agency’s threat division investigated 9,474 “concerning statements or direct threats” against members of Congress in 2024, a sharp increase from the 8,008 cases investigated in 2023. The 2024 number is nearly three times higher than the number of threats investigated in 2017. And other than 2021, it the largest number for a single year on record for the U.S. Capitol Police.

A CBS News review of the range of threat cases investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Justice Department shows a range of crimes and finds the cases span different states and regions.  

In one recent case, a man in the San Jose, California, area is accused of using Instagram in early 2024 to send a message to a Florida legislator saying “I’m gonna bring a gun to ur office tomorrow and shoot u and ur staff.”

In June, the Justice Department announced an Alaska man pleaded guilty to a federal charge for making interstate threats to kidnap and injure a sitting U.S. senator.

The Justice Department has also prosecuted and helped investigate a wave of new swatting attacks targeting members of Congress.  A swatting attack, in which a false 911 call is  made to lure police swat teams to respond in force to a target’s home, have menaced several members of Congress over the past year.  Two foreign nationals were charged in 2024 with targeting dozens of members of Congress with threatening swatting incidents.  

Some of the recent wave of death threats have included voicemail messages left on the office phone systems of members of Congress or in vulgar and violent calls received by their staff and interns. 

Early last year, a jury in Florida convicted a man of issuing death threats to a Member of Congress. According to the Justice Department, the man’s messages threatened, “You’re gonna get f—— murdered you go***amn lying piece of garbage. Watch your back, you fat, ugly, piece of s—. You are dead.”

In a statement, U.S. Capitol Police chief Tom Manger said that “we must continue to enhance our protective and intelligence operations to keep up with this evolving threat environment.”  

In 2023, a man wielding a baseball bat assaulted staffers inside a Virginia office of Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, underscoring how members of Congress and their staff can be targeted in hometown offices, communities and during travel.  Connolly told CBS News, “Between the insurrection on Jan. 6 and the attack on my district office, I can attest firsthand to the critical importance of the U.S. Capitol Police’s mission.”

Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat who is the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, told CBS News that she “will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that Members, visitors, and staff are safe and that our security partners have the resources needed to carry out that mission.”

“As violent criminals are pardoned by the president and released into DC and our districts, the threats to Capitol security and member safety are more serious than ever,” she said.