Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark’s flowers, memos and American flags are decorated. The assassination has led to more civil servants across the country adopting their safety. (Photo: Steven Garcia/Getty Images)

New Jersey Assemblyman Sadaf Jaffer decided not to run for reelection a year after his first term in office.

The political world saw her as a rising star in 2023. Democrat Yafa was previously the country’s first female Muslim mayor. However, rampaging harassment from online commenters and other politicians about her religion, as well as prominent violence against other civil servants, has rethinked her political future.

“I was worried about my family,” Jafar said in an interview. “They didn’t sign up for this. I didn’t want to harm them.”

The assassination of Minnesota Sen. Melissa Hortman and her husband and the injury to State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife have led to more civil servants across the country having their safety. Some say the threat of death has become part of their work. They fear violence – real attacks and constant threats – will scare potential candidates from seeking public office.

Michigan Democrat Rep. Laurie Poftsky said he has faced multiple death threats since 2020. In one instance, the neighbor reported that a stranger was waiting at her house and requested that she know when she was going home.

“I’ve certainly thought a bit often that I might get killed by doing this job,” Pochtsky told Stateline. “But what really made me wary? [about the Minnesota attacks] And I was thinking that I might stop me with my truck and someone might enter my house and kill my family. ”

Lawmakers across the country say political rhetoric that dehumanizes opposition to the issues has created a rechargeable atmosphere. As politicians begin to explain more and more rivals, not just as wrong about the policy, but as enemies, the message can burn extremists to carry out violence.

“People will naturally deal with the death threat to government officials until someone is assassinated,” Pochtsky said. “That’s an impossible position because those carrying out these attacks want people to leave their office.”

In some states, lawmakers are debating whether officials’ home addresses should be included in campaign finance forms and other published documents. Elsewhere, political leaders are reviewing security protocols.

But the elected leader says there is no easy answer. And they fear things will get worse before they get better.

“These threats of violence, we’ve seen them all over the place, but nothing like we’ve seen them now,” South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster spoke with a reporter this week. “Yes, I think it’s going to mean a lot of people don’t want to get into that field, think and decide.

“It’s a tough field anyway,” McMaster said. “But when you have the threat of violence, unexpected, unmitigated, unanticipated violence — that’s another reason you don’t get involved in politics.”

The growing threat

In recent years, elected officials have faced an increasing number of threats and attacks.

In 2020, the group of men was accused of planning to lure Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer’s government. Five were later convicted. That same year, the 20-year-old son of a federal judge in New Jersey was killed by a gunman and a lawyer who had previously filed a lawsuit before her.

Paul Pelosi, husband of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was assaulted by an attacker who swings a hammer around at her home in 2022. President Donald Trump was targeted during his 2024 campaign in several assassination attempts, including a shooting in which a bullet crushed his ear. And earlier this year, Pennsylvania Democratic government Josh Shapiro targeted an arson attack on the governor’s mansion.

Nine in ten state legislators reported facing despicable or disrespectful comments and actions in the current period or the campaign that leads to it, while more than four in ten reported harassment and threats. According to the report It was published last year by the progressive center of Brennan Justice Centre.

Reports showed that women were 3-4 times more likely to experience gender-related abuse than men. And people of color were more than three times more likely than those who endured race-based abuse.

Since January 6, 2021, the attack on the U.S. Capitol has dramatically escalated political threats to candidates, especially women, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals, and Ran’s president, Ran’s president, is a political action committee recruiting young liberal candidates for the office.

“It’s the worst thing you have to have these conversations with people,” she said. “But the goal of this violence is to stop good people from running.”

Litman said her organization provides support to candidates, including safety protocols, digital privacy training and mental health support. However, the rise in political violence and easy online access to office holders and candidates have begun to change what they share about their interactions with constituents and their lives.

“We have candidates who never again want to share photos of their families or post updates about their lives outside of political positions,” Littman said. “But now there’s a shift in how people are being more intentional about DMing threats and other things, especially about what’s shared online, and using that information to inspire even more fear.”

Language is important

Leaders say rhetoric that characterizes opponents as evil has made violent incidents more possible.

“People are very good at the line of being embarrassed about actually threatening to kill people,” said Michigan Rep. Pochtsky.

“It kind of normalizes,” she said. “If you make this the right fight, it’s much easier to incite violence against them when you convince people that someone is hurting a child. The language is intentional.”

This change has been accelerating in recent years. Jake Harriman returned to Japan in 2015, working as a US Marine in the Combat Zone, working in post-conflict areas.

Harriman said he sees the tactics he witnesses use in conflict overseas areas as he now plays across the US to capitalize on fractured countries and fighting factions such as division, fear and isolation.

“What shocked me the most,” said Harriman, founder of More Perfect Union, a veteran-led civic services group.

Amy Pason, an associate professor specializing in political rhetoric at the University of Nevada in Reno, says that through her identification as a mag and the author’s political group as an opposing mag, more people are finding self-awareness.

“This is because people are more isolated, they are finding social groups on social media, or because they are other media they consume. “This becomes more of a problem if you are part of that group, accept your beliefs and change your attitude. People who are not your group are either dangerous or harmful.”

Despite criticism of Minnesota’s shootings from both parties’ state legislators, some Republicans in Congress have stated I’m in a hurry Falsely denounce Democrats and liberals on social media.

Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat and friend of Hortman, faced Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Capitol Hill after making inflammatory comments about the assassination on Platform X. The post was deleted immediately.

Democrat Oregon Sen. Jeff Golden said the Minnesota attack was a wake-up call. He promised to direct public comments “toward the substance of the proposal, not the nature of the proposal, but the substance of the proposal.”

“I think it’s going to be a thin line,” Golden said. “I probably crossed it a lot and then I’m going to do everything I can’t do it again.”

However, politicians say Donald Neiman, a history professor at Binghamton University in New York, has the incentive to motivate and engage their foundations through inflammatory attacks on people who are characterized as enemies and enemies that promote political violence.

In an email to Stateline, Nieman pointed out that fears about personal and family safety are increasingly common among elected officials and affects the way they vote. He believes the path is clear, but “run down rhetoric and emphasize a common foundation” – he is not optimistic.

“In a polarized political system, politicians rely on (and fear) on a loyal foundation,” Nieman wrote. “We fear that political violence debates will take the same course as school shootings. We lament them, propose solutions that don’t go anywhere, and there are more gunfires.”

Security measures

Oregon legislators passed hours before the Minnesota shooting bill This makes it difficult for the public to obtain the address of the home of an elected official. Rather than having that information on the Secretary of State’s website as in current law, the bill requires residents to submit a request for public records to obtain those details.

In 2023, New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill that would exempt local officials from publicly sharing addresses, but Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy I refused to sign This measure cites the expertise of its effective date.

“When everyone can access and become a list of all of this data, we are in such unknown territory,” said Jaffer, a former New Jersey legislator, citing a “hit list” of 45 officials who say law enforcement officials were compiled by the alleged Minnesota attacker Vance Boerter.

“We need to do more to protect those who step up to serve, but we also need to protect freedom of speech and freedom of information,” she said.

Jaffer said he was surprised to learn that friends from other countries had no security details while in their tenure.

“We’re just ordinary people,” she said of the state legislators. “It’s great that we’re accessible, but it certainly makes us vulnerable.”

Following the Minnesota shooting, North Dakota officials announced they would do so unload Address of the lawmaker from the legislative website. New Hampshire legislative leaders too I’ve pulled it down Strengthen the security of the State Capitol, a page with information about the elected leader. Meanwhile, lawmakers in New Mexico are review Their security practices.

Litman of Run for Something said Congress should consider funding security for local candidates and officials who may not be able to afford it.

“I think there’s a real fear that Donald Trump, who has the best security details in the world, can attack at a public event. And what about local officials who can’t afford to keep themselves and their families safe?” Litman said.

Julia Shumway of the Oregon capital Chronicle and Shoana Adcox of the South Carolina Daily Gazette contributed to this report.

Stateline reporters Alex Brown and Robbie Sequiilla can be contacted abort@stateline.org and rsequeira@stateline.org.

(Stateline) It is a nonprofit news network that is part of the state newsroom and supports a coalition of grants and donors as a public charity of 501C(3). Stateline maintains editorial independence. For questions, please contact editor Scott S. Greenberger. info@stateline.org. )