Elected officials across the political spectrum are facing a growing wave of violent threats simply for doing their jobs, according to a new report from The New York Times.
The threats cut across party lines and reach every level of government, from local and state offices all the way up to the halls of Congress.
In January, a caller began leaving menacing messages in the voicemail inboxes of members of Congress.
“I want to see their throat cut from ear to ear,” the caller said.
A U.S. senator received an even more chilling message from another caller, one that went after the lawmaker’s family.
“I’m going to murder you, and I’m going to start with your children,” that caller said.
One state attorney general was sent a message just three words long: “Bang, bang, bang.”
“Serving in public office in the United States is dangerous,” the Times wrote. “And it’s getting worse, officeholders said in dozens of interviews.”
To put the story together, Times reporter Nick Corasaniti combed through “hundreds of records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, court documents and law enforcement logs.”
What he found was staggering.
At least 44 governors, along with their staff and families, have received violent threats since 2024, according to Corasaniti.
Congress has been hit hard as well.
“That’s also true of at least 70 of the nation’s 100 senators, and at least 185 members of the House of Representatives — nearly half the body,” Corasaniti wrote.
The officials who oversee the nation’s elections have not been spared either.
“More than half of the country’s secretaries of state, most of whom serve as their states’ chief election officers, have received threats of violence,” he reported.
And the danger is not limited to words. Corasaniti reported that actual violent attacks against political figures have also increased.
He pointed to a string of high-profile incidents: the assassination attempts against Donald Trump, the killing of Charlie Kirk, the assassination of Minnesota legislative leader Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home.
“For many elected officials, the escalation is a grim testament to the toxicity of violent rhetoric and how it can shake the country’s democratic institutions,” Corasaniti wrote.
He described the situation as “the new normal” for America’s politicians.
Despite the flood of threats, very few of the people behind them ever end up in court. Over the last two years, only 53 individuals were charged with threatening public officials other than the president, according to the report.
Corasaniti laid out several reasons why these cases so rarely lead to prosecutions, from the laws on the books to the difficulty of tracking down the culprits.
“Vague state and federal laws and free speech protections can make prosecution challenging. Anonymous letters and screen names can be hard to track. The sheer volume of threats can make hunting down those responsible virtually impossible,” he wrote.
The result, according to the officeholders interviewed for the report, is a job that has become more dangerous for those who serve, with the threats continuing to pile up and few consequences for those who make them.
