Members of Congress in both parties are experiencing a surge in threats and confrontations as a rise in violent political speech has increasingly crossed over into the realm of in-person intimidation and physical altercation.

According to the Capitol Police, the department follows the Supreme Court definition of a threat, which is “statements where the speaker means to communicate a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular individual or group of individuals.” (MSN-NY Times)

The Times subtly blames Donald Trump’s election and the Jan 6 Capitol riots for the increase in threats of violence to politicians, but further down we find both parties experience threats equally, and the perpetrators are about 1/3 left, 1/3 right, and 1/3 no clear ideological affiliation. Mental illness is a factor in many cases.

The times also attempts to show threats are “more acute” against politicians of color, by using money spent for protection as a metric, but that is absurd. There are no good numbers breaking down which demographics are more in danger, and why does it matter anyway?

A threat is a threat

Threats to public officials are illegal and corrosive to our democracy, whether it is Ted Cruz or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez on the receiving end. Politicizing and ideological blame fixing are not the answer. Tracking down the perps, prosecuting them and loudly publicizing their prosecution would be a good start. Such public announcements would provide an occasion for all Americans of all stripes to to loudly jeer the criminals and cheer their punishment.

What say you?