A 'wake-up call': State lawmakers are fearful after Minnesota shootings expose lack of security

State lawmakers across the country say they are deeply concerned about the lack of security they receive in the wake of the targeted shooting of two Minnesota legislators, even as local officials attempt to ramp up some safety measures.
Outside of their state capitol complexes, state legislators have little to no security protection. No state offers proactive security to members of its legislature, though law enforcement will typically step in if there are credible threats.
And despite the renewed attention to the issue, lawmakers fear little will ultimately be done that can make a meaningful difference, given that in many states, such positions are effectively part-time jobs with small budgets.
Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Emma Greenman, who was a close colleague of this weekend's shooting victims, said the attack in her state would almost certainly have to serve as a 'wake-up call' around the lack of safety measures for state lawmakers, but that solutions remained sparse.
'I think a lot of us are going through this,' Greenman told NBC News in an interview. 'We are normal people in normal neighborhoods.'
'What does this mean now for part-time legislators?' she added. 'We are not members of Congress, who have a lot more resources. Frankly, there's just been a lot more thinking about how to protect members of Congress, or a governor, probably even a mayor.'
The safety concerns following the Minnesota shootings have also extended to members of Congress. Only a handful of federal lawmakers receive 24-hour protection from Capitol Police security details, though members may ask for extra protection.
Still, that level of protection goes far beyond what is available to state legislators. Like Greenman, Arizona state Rep. Stephanie Simacek, a Democrat, said she receives no security outside of her state Capitol complex.
'We are constantly out there, vulnerable. Whether I'm volunteering somewhere, knocking doors for someone, starting to run my own campaign, I'm out there, vulnerable,' Simacek said.
In Simacek's home state, then-Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head while she was meeting with constituents in 2011.
Simacek, who makes $24,000 annually as a state representative, said there is no appetite to fund a security apparatus for legislators.
'I don't see any path for that,' she said. 'And that's so frightening, considering the circumstances right now.'
So Simacek is taking matters into her own hands. She said she's already started the process of installing cameras on her home property, which she is paying for herself, not with campaign funds.
Kansas state Sen. Tory Marie Blew, a Republican, also said she doesn't receive any security protection after she leaves the state Capitol building in Topeka.
She also said she has no hope for a legislative path that might fund added safety measures.
'It would be expensive, obviously, and we'd have to have a budget item for it,' she said. There are also logistical complications, especially in larger states, Blew noted.
'I live three hours away from the state capital. I don't think we'd even know where to start for all these lawmakers who live far [away],' she said.
Blew and her family have a Ring security device on their door at home, 'but we can't afford a massive security system,' she said.
Authorities said the Minnesota shooting suspect, Vance Boelter, visited the homes of four elected officials early Saturday, impersonating a police officer. Authorities allege he shot and killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home, shortly after, they say, he seriously wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife in a separate shooting at their home.
Like Greenman, Simacek and many others serving in state government, Blew has been on the receiving end of threatening emails and somewhat regularly gets 'yelled at' in public.
'It's part of the job,' she said. 'More and more, it's nerve-wracking.'
A number of state officials in recent days have attempted to take some additional steps to protect lawmakers.
Wisconsin officials announced increased security at their state Capitol on Monday as lawmakers look to continue their legislative session. New Hampshire officials did the same.
In Colorado, officials paused public access to the state's campaign finance database. Campaign finance filings in every state almost always require a candidate to list their home address, making it publicly searchable for anyone. Legislators in Minnesota, New Mexico and North Dakota took similar actions, The Associated Press reported, removing lawmakers' home addresses from state government websites and databases where they are listed or searchable.
Elsewhere, other actions to ensure lawmaker safety marked a clear interruption in what have typically been mundane legislative procedures.
For example, following the shooting, lawmakers in one state postponed the unveiling of at least one bill that was expected to receive a lot of attention politically while they evaluated whether proper security protocols were in place for its release, an operative in that state said.
In the meantime, lawmakers NBC News spoke with said they're not taking any chances with their home safety.
Simacek said she 'makes sure the door is always locked' and reminds her children 'that we don't open it when anybody knocks — we see who it is first.'
Greenman, who was forced to shelter in place throughout the weekend as law enforcement officials frantically searched for the Minnesota suspect, said she remains fearful.
'Even now that this guy's caught, there is going to be a worry about copycats,' she said. 'We all feel much more vulnerable now.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Independent

32 minutes ago

• The Independent

Supreme Court will hear case of Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were shaved by Louisiana prison guards

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear the appeal of a former Louisiana prison inmate whose dreadlocks were cut off by prison guards in violation of his religious beliefs. The justices will review an appellate ruling that held that the former inmate, Damon Landor, could not sue prison officials for money damages under a federal law aimed at protecting prisoners' religious rights. Landor, an adherent of the Rastafari religion, even carried a copy of a ruling by the appeals court in another inmate's case holding that cutting religious prisoners' dreadlocks violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Landor hadn't cut his hair in nearly two decades when he entered Louisiana's prison system in 2020 on a five-month sentence. At his first two stops, officials respected his beliefs. But things changed when he got to the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Baton Rouge, for the final three weeks of his term. A prison guard took the copy of the ruling Landor carried and tossed it in the trash, according to court records. Then the warden ordered guards to cut his dreadlocks. While two guards restrained him, a third shaved his head to the scalp, the records show. Landor sued after his release, but lower courts dismissed the case. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lamented Landor's treatment but said the law doesn't allow him to hold prison officials liable for damages. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the fall. Landor's lawyers argue that the court should be guided by its decision in 2021 allowing Muslim men to sue over their inclusion on the FBI's no-fly list under a sister statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. President Donald Trump 's Republican administration filed a brief supporting Landor's right to sue and urged the court to hear the case. Louisiana asked the justices to reject the appeal, even as it acknowledged Landor's mistreatment. Lawyers for the state wrote that 'the state has amended its prison grooming policy to ensure that nothing like petitioner's alleged experience can occur.' The Rastafari faith is rooted in 1930s Jamaica, growing as a response by Black people to white colonial oppression. Its beliefs are a melding of Old Testament teachings and a desire to return to Africa. Its message was spread across the world in the 1970s by Jamaican music icons Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, two of the faith's most famous exponents. The case is Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, 23-1197.

The Guardian

39 minutes ago

• The Guardian

Zohran Mamdani appears to pull ahead of Andrew Cuomo, according to new poll

Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, has drawn level with Andrew Cuomo in the city's primary, according to a new poll, as voters brave record-breaking temperatures to cast their ballots. Mamdani, a 33-year-old New York assemblyman, may even be leading Cuomo, the 67-year-old former governor and scion of a prominent New York political family, if the poll's simulation of the system of ranked-choice voting is correct. A survey by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill, found that Cuomo led Mamdani 35% to 32% – within the margin of error – for first-choice votes but when calculated by voters' final round choices, with six other candidates eliminated, Mamdani came out on top at 52% to Cuomo's 48%. Under the new 'ranked choice' system, voters select their top five candidates in order of preference. If no candidate surpasses 50% in the first round of voting, the candidate who's last is eliminated and their votes are redistributed. That could, in theory, favor candidates that have not until now featured strongly in the polls, including comptroller Brad Lander, who was last week detained by Ice agents, or Adrienne Adams, the city council speaker, or Scott Stringer, the former comptroller. But the mayoral primary does not include Eric Adams, the current Democratic mayor who has decided to run in November's election as an independent after becoming embroiled in a fundraising scandal. Cuomo, too, is still tarred by the sexual harassment claims that forced him to resign as governor in 2021. The down-ticket race also features another New Yorker, or 'boomerang candidate', with a clouded reputation. Anthony Weiner, subject of multiple sexting scandals, is running for the city council. Cuomo has led the polls until now, but Mamdani has surged in recent weeks, setting up a contest between a centrist and a progressive that may, or may not, indicate the direction of travel for Democrats nationally. Both factions of the party will welcome a win as significantly indicative. Cuomo, whose campaign is lavishly backed by some of New York's richest people, is endorsed by Mike Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, as well as Bill Clinton and Jim Clyburn, the influential South Carolina congressman. Meanwhile Mamdani scored endorsements from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, but not the New York Times editorial board, which called him 'uniquely unsuited' for the city's challenges. The race between the leading candidates has been colored by international politics, with some accusing Mamdani of being antisemitic after he defended the phrase 'globalize the intifada'. Mamdani says the phrase has been deliberately misinterpreted to smear him and others who stand up for Palestinian rights. After the US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, Mamdani slammed the military action as heralding a 'dark new chapter' for America. 'Donald Trump ran for president promising to end wars, not start new ones,' he said on X, and said the 'unconstitutional military action represents a dark, new chapter in his endless betrayals that now threaten to plunge the world deeper into chaos.' Cuomo later addressed the subject: 'Iran cannot have nuclear capability. That's number one,' he said. 'It's dangerous, not only for the region, it's dangerous internationally. It's dangerous for the United States.'

Daily Mirror

41 minutes ago

• Daily Mirror

Nuclear watchdog makes 'unimaginable' prediction as uranium site hit again

Israel and the US have carried out airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran where they claimed the Islamic regime have been working to enrich uranium to create a weapon of mass destruction A nuclear watchdog has made an "unimaginable" prediction after a major Iranian uranium site was hit once again. Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the use of nuclear technologies, gave a stark warning during the organisation's board of governors meeting today. Mr Grossi stressed " armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place" amid concerns they could lead to radiation leaks that go beyond the country's borders. ‌ "I therefore again call on maximum restraint. Military escalation not only threatens lives, it also delays us from taking a diplomatic path," he said. "To achieve the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon… we must return to negotiations." ‌ Mr Grossi's comments come after Israel and US bombing campaigns across Iran. The US hit three nuclear sites in the country after Israel first carried out strikes amid fears Tehran could be pursuing a weapon of mass destruction. US President Donald Trump carried out attacks on the Fordow nuclear site over the weekend, with Israel also carrying out strikes on routes to the area. The escalation led Mr Grossi to warn "violence and destruction could reach unimaginable levels." He continued: "I'm ready to travel immediately to Iran. We need to keep working together despite existing differences." Iranian state TV reported some 500 people have been killed since Israel launched its attack on Iran on June 13. It estimated another 3,000 have been injured. ‌ While both Israel and the US have been keen to state the bombing campaign aims to eliminate Iran's nuclear programme, there have been comments from both countries' leaders that hint at a larger war goal. Following the bombing of the Evin prison in Tehran, Israel's minister for the economy Nir Barkat said he "won't shed a tear" should the country's regime fall. In the US, Republican officials have been keen to downplay any notion that regime change is a major war objective. US Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the aim was not to overthrow Iran's government. Speaking about the military strikes, Mr Hegseth said: "This mission was not and has not been about regime change." He went on to describe the mission as a "precise operation." But Mr Trump appeared to contradict that with a post shared to his social media platform TruthSocial. The president said: "It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" Iranian officials have since warned they would continue to attack Israel and threatened the US and its allies. This led UK officials to put military personnel based in the Middle East on high alert.