The new chief of the U.S. Capitol Police says his department is seeing an unprecedented number of threats against lawmakers. In an interview with the Associated Press out Wednesday, J. Thomas Manger said 4,100 threats against lawmakers were reported just from January to March, meaning there will likely be close to 9,000 such threats by the end of the year. “We have never had the level of threats against members of Congress that we’re seeing today,” said Manger, who took over as chief in July. “Clearly, we’ve got a bigger job in terms of the protection aspect of our responsibilities, we’ve got a bigger job than we used to.” While the department has been at the receiving end of major criticism for perceived failures in its handling of the deadly Jan. 6 riot, the events of that day—during which five people died, including a Capitol police officer—have reportedly led to huge increase in job applications.
