The San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), where her husband Paul Pelosi was violently assaulted by an intruder in late October, had not received a security assessment by Capitol Police since 2018, Chief Thomas Manger said on Tuesday.
The Pelosis’ California residence has since received an updated assessment and will continue to receive more frequent assessments, the head of the Capitol Police force said in an interview with CNN.
Capitol Police typically do an updated assessment when there is a change in leadership, Manger said. However, he added that he believes the Capitol Police needs to enhance its “security posture” for future Speakers or lawmakers who receive a high volume of threats.
“The level of violence in our country directed toward political officials, government officials, it’s really at a point where I think that it’s as dangerous as it’s ever been to be an elected official,” Manger told CNN.
“It’s just the sheer volume of what we’re dealing with now versus what we dealt with years ago,” he added. “I’m not so sure that the Capitol Police can do a lot to tamp that down. So our responsibility is we’ve just got to deal with the growing number.”
Capitol Police recorded 9,625 threats against members of Congress in 2021, up from 3,939 in 2017. Pelosi alone received 632 threats last year, according to CNN.
“We had more folks focused on her safety than any other member of Congress because of the number of threats that she had,” Manger noted on Tuesday.
Concerns about lawmaker security resurfaced after a man broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home in the middle of the night on Oct. 28 and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer. The man, who has since been identified as 42-year-old David DePape, was reportedly looking for the Speaker and repeatedly yelled “Where is Nancy?”
Paul Pelosi suffered a skull fracture and injuries to his right arm and hands in the attack. He underwent successful surgery after the incident and is expected to make a full recovery, the Speaker’s office has said.