Pizza terrorism, online vitriol and now murder: Lawmakers fear for their safety and don’t know how to change that

It was two days after Melissa Hortman was assassinated that state Rep Erin Koegel felt compelled to flee her home Somebody thought it would be a really funny joke to send a bunch of pizzas to my house disclosed Koegel DFL-Spring Lake Park A Domino s pizza guy pulls into my driveway with two cop cars parked there So I went to my mom s house No one knows where she lives Police later recounted Koegel that pizzas kept getting delivered to her residence Monday night I don t know why people think they can terrorize us Koegel explained On June Hortman the House DFL leader and her husband Mark Hortman were determined shot dead in their Brooklyn Park home State Sen John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman were shot in their Champlin home that day but survived Also Sen Ann Rest DFL-New Hope and Kristin Bahner DFL-Maple Grove each were informed by police that the suspect in the shootings Vance Boelter went to their homes on June Boelter faces state and federal murder and stalking charges Related Minnesota abolished death penalty in but Vance Boelter s federal charges mean he could still face it The slayings have prompted grieving Minnesota lawmakers to discuss their fear of violence One former lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity out of continued fear for her and her family s safety revealed that she did not run for reelection precisely because she was afraid of physical harm For years numerous of us were concerned she stated We were just waiting for something bad to happen These worries are backed by national research A analysis last year from the Brennan Center for Justice determined that more than of state lawmakers surveyed were threatened with violence in the last three years At the same time Hortman s murder has not led to a barrage of calls for new safety measures Legislators say they are careful about discussing what to shore up partly for fear of revealing assurance weaknesses Afraid their words will be misconstrued and go viral lawmakers speak in general terms expecting strategy discussions to unfold gradually over time We re in a new era here announced Sen Nick Frentz DFL-Mankato I think the events of the last sparse days are going to cause people to evaluate and say that while accessibility is a virtue it s time to be more safety conscious Here is a look at what has already changed in how state lawmakers are protected and what else may shift Scrubbing home addresses Enacted into law in plenty of provisions of the Minnesota Governing body Input Practices Act can be described as unclear complicated and confusing That is seriously the state of Minnesota s own summation of this law as can be located on the Minnesota Department of Wellness website So there are gray areas On the day of Hortman s killing Steve Simon secretary of state since and a former Minnesota House member made the executive decision that the Facts Practices Act does not forbid him from erasing the home addresses of state legislative candidates from the Secretary of State s website Our analysis is that it does not require us to put the addresses on the website Simon commented in an interview But since the addresses count as population records under the Statistics Practices law any individual can still request that information There are circumstances such as temporary restraining orders where a candidate can fill out a form and request their address stay private Simon noted Also specific addresses remain available in the Minnesota Legislative Manual better known as the blue book That is a biannual who s who of lawmakers that may include not only home addresses but spouses and children s names and the workplace location of their company Simon noted There are reasons to keep home addresses population It lets anyone double-check if someone really lives in the district they run in In December a federal judge nullified the poll of Curtis Johnson to the Minnesota House after determining Johnson did not reside in the suburban district he won But there appears momentum to stop publicizing addresses Other states including California and Oregon let lawmakers not share where they live according to Shannon Hiller executive director the Bridging Divides Institute at Princeton University which studies threats made to lawmakers Did I mention scrubbing home addresses After the low-hanging fruit of removing home addresses and personal cell phone numbers which lawmakers do not have to make general violence prevention ideas spin into feverish debates over political division the mental toll of social media and gun laws One practical limitation is that the state administration does not protect lawmakers at their homes besides encouraging cooperation from local law enforcement Only the governor and lieutenant governor get defense away from the Capitol I don t think it is practical to provide a assurance detail for people Simon commented referring to the total number of House and Senate legislators Lawmakers interviewed suggested that a State Patrol officer could audit the safety of their homes But the majority proposals relate to safety at the Capitol which of subject is not where Hortman was killed Minnesota is one of states to not have metal detectors at their Capitol building according to a review by the Council of State Governments The Land of Lakes is one of states to not have X-ray screenings at the Capitol After the January th attack on the U S Capitol Minnesota s Capitol did erect a short-lived measure fence The Minnesota Senate Building does not have a metal detector But the Centennial Building where House members have offices does The Centennial Building safeguard detectors are kind of a pain in the butt but it has made the building more secure Koegel mentioned Capitol safety falls upon the Capitol Measure Division an arm of the State Patrol mostly consisting of civilian officers and state troopers In turn Capitol Safeguard works with point people from the House and Senate called the sergeant-at-arms If a lawmaker fears for their safety they contact the sergeant-at-arms Capitol Protection s annual record illustrates its modest budget and aims It noted that Capitol card readers can now decipher encrypted badges and that cameras were upgraded from the original standard definition IP cameras to full HD with analytics over the past year The overview states a vision to ensure that processes of governing body remain accessible to all citizens What about this Capitol gun debate among lawmakers There is the larger issue of state gun control laws and their enforcement But there is also the matter of guns at the Capitol At a Republican gubernatorial candidate forum Paul Gazelka a state senator at the time revealed that he routinely brought his gun to the Capitol Frankly I wish I didn t have to carry at the Capitol Gazelka explained But the fact is I ve had death threats Gazelka s comment focused attention on a Minnesota law that wiped out restrictions on bringing a gun into the Capitol The law remains on the books A DFL bill this year to make possessing a gun in the Capitol a felony went nowhere Related Why Minnesota lawmakers and members of the residents can carry guns almost everywhere at State Capitol complex Minnesota is one of states to permit guns at the Capitol according to the Council of State Governments Hiller at the Bridging Divides Institute announced that other states such as Virginia tolerate guns But unlike Minnesota those states reserve the right to ban them for specific occasions like lobbying days or at a contentious hearing Hiller disclosed The lawmaker who retired because of safety threats noted guns at the Capitol made her fear not just members of the residents but fellow legislators I never felt safe at work she stated I ve been screamed at by my colleagues I once had a male legislator upset about my vote on the House floor He took me into another room and punched a table and started screaming at me For a few though those frightening moments demonstrate the need to have a gun Sen Rich Draheim R-Madison Lake revealed that he does not bring a gun to the Capitol but knows legislators who do It s their lifestyle and what they believe in so more power to them Draheim reported Instead of restrictions on guns Draheim would like to see more armed state troopers at the Capitol But Gov Tim Walz last week mentioned lawmakers should reconsider allowing firearms in the Capitol And what about political divisions and social media There is a pervasive conditions of hostility that creates an setting for violence Hiller revealed Safety changes have to be hand-in-hand with a broader weather to get rid of vitriol As a reporter wanting to know how the Minnesota state cabinet can reduce the chances that another one of their own will be murdered Hiller s response is somewhat maddening There is no bill a legislature can pass or statute the governor can enforce to end hostility and vitriol But it is also what lawmakers themselves say they want the majority From her interviews with local lawmakers across the country Hiller noted that protection measures like metal detectors cannot take away the visceral anxiety of being anonymously harassed or threatened whether on email Facebook X at their legislative office or in their own home That anxiety can make lawmakers retreat from their very calling of serving the population As evil as people sometimes think we are the whole reason I got into this is because I required to help Koegel revealed MinnPost reporter Brian Arola contributed to this review The post Pizza terrorism online vitriol and now murder Lawmakers fear for their safety and don t know how to change that appeared first on MinnPost