Few Threats Against Congress or Capitol Get Prosecuted

Of the thousands of possible threats against members of Congress and the Capitol each year, only a tiny fraction ever result in prosecution, the Washington Post reports. Statistics released by the U.S. Capitol Police show that of the 7,501 possible threats tracked by the office last year — down from 9,600 in 2021, but way up from about 4,000 in 2017 — investigators deemed 313 as true threats worthy of referral to federal prosecutors for review. Of those, only 22 led to criminal charges. Possible threats include phone calls, letters and emails, voice mails and online postings referred to authorities — many of which Capitol Police said are “concerning” and are tracked, but do not meet the legal definition of threats.

The number and percentage of threat prosecutions has steadily declined in recent years, Capitol Police statistics show. There were 51 threats to members of Congress charged federally in 2019, about 13 percent of the cases referred. Ten percent were prosecuted in 2020, and 9 percent in 2021. Experts said the small number of prosecutions may be caused by a number of factors, such as limited federal resources, victims’ unwillingness to go through the criminal process, or the question of whether a perceived threat may qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment. The question of how to legally define a threat — from the sender’s perspective or the recipient’s — has been decided differently among the federal circuit courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this spring on a Facebook stalking case that may resolve the issue nationwide. Capitol Police declined to comment on the statistics. After the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), in San Francisco last fall, Chief Tom Manger issued a statement saying his department monitored “potential threats before they make headlines.” Manger noted that about 12 percent of threat cases had been prosecuted over the previous five years and added, “We hope to see more of these cases prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”