00:00What was your big takeaway from this briefing?
00:04And do you think there's enough being done to protect members?
00:07Do you feel safe?
00:09I intend to continue to be as accessible and available
00:14as I have always been, part of who I am and how I do my job.
00:19But I understand that a lot of members and everyday Americans
00:24are scared about the increasing scourge of political violence in this country.
00:28And there plainly is a need for some greater security,
00:33not just for us as public officials, but for our entire society
00:39against this spreading scourge of extremist, largely right-wing political violence.
00:46Was there any discussion about politicians' rhetoric, like Mike Lee's?
00:50Did that come up in the briefing?
00:52This briefing was focused on the intelligence that is necessary to be provided to local and state police about threats,
01:01about the physical security that is increasingly appropriate for members of Congress and for everyday Americans,
01:09not on public statements by people in public life.
01:14But I feel that a lot of the MAGA rhetoric is an accelerant to this kind of political violence
01:26that is burning and metastasizing in our society and adding fuel to the fire is really irresponsible on the part of not just people in public life,
01:39but people who are members of these fringe groups that are increasingly a threat.
01:45You blame Senator Lee for that as well?
01:47I'm not talking about Senator Lee.
01:49I really think that the problem is much broader than any single public official,
01:57and I feel that a lot of the MAGA rhetoric, which is so threatening,
02:04or other kinds of fuel to the fire is real and clear in the present day.
02:13Is there anything immediately that's going to change for you all, security-wise, that you've learned from this weekend?
02:18I'm sorry?
02:19Is there anything immediately that's going to change for you all, all the Senators, security-wise?
02:23We're certainly looking at the kinds of physical security that would make people more comfortable going to parades or public functions,
02:34whether it is someone going with us.
02:37But I want to make very clear for myself that I believe that accessibility is part of who I am and how I do my job.
02:46The most important thing I do often is listening to people, and I need to be accessible.
02:52I feel no real threat to myself when I'm in public.
02:57I go to a lot of parades, fairs.
03:00It's what I'm known for doing, and people feel they can talk to me.
03:04I think that is very, very important to preserve, and so the security has to be as unobtrusive as possible.
03:13But I hear loud and clear the message from my colleagues and also everyday Americans
03:21about their apprehension in going to community meetings, public gatherings, all kinds of other public functions,
03:31because of the level of rhetoric.
03:34We need to be very careful about the words we use.
03:37Words can be incitement.
03:39There are fighting words, and they are part of the element of speech that is subject to constraint and control under the First Amendment.
03:50Fighting words, incitement, the old crying fire in a crowded movie house.
03:57That is what we are seeing more and more these days from fringe groups that are urging and inciting this kind of violence.
04:06We need to put a stop to it.
04:07Do you consider that Senator Lee supposed to use those type of, like, inciting words?
04:13I'm not going to comment on any particular words.
04:18I think that the old admonition, hard to define, but I know it when I see it.
04:27I think a lot of us know it when we see it, and I think it is reprehensible when it has the effect,
04:34and it is a knowing effect, that it may incite this kind of violence.
04:41We have a responsibility as public officials to be really careful at this moment in the words that we use,
04:48because they can be instruments of hate and also incitements to violence.
04:53And I think we need to be very vigilant, and some of my colleagues need to be more careful.
05:01Thanks for talking.
05:02I think there may well be additional resources.
05:06If we are to have better protection against these threats, it will require resources.
05:13Not hundreds of millions of dollars, but some modest increase in the level of resources.
05:19You can't do investigation or apprehension without resources.
05:24As a former prosecutor, I can tell you protection is impossible without resources to apprehend or prosecute.
05:31somebody who is threatening, and it is threatening as well as action that is against the law.
05:37Thanks for talking.
05:38Thanks for talking.
05:39Thank you for taking off your plate.
05:40Thanks for having to contact you on the floor.
