Capitol Police investigations into threats against members of Congress, their families and staffers, and the U.S. Capitol rose drastically in 2025, according to data released by the department Tuesday.
Driving the news: The new stat dropped just hours after an attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) at a town hall Tuesday evening, in which a man sprayed her with an unknown liquid from a syringe.
- That incident, in which the 55-year-old assailant was arrested and later charged with third degree assault, illustrates the day-to-day threat environment member of Congress face.
- Omar wasn't even the only one attacked in the past week: Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) got punched in the face at the Sundance Film Festival just days earlier.
By the numbers: The Capitol Police opened 14,938 cases into "concerning statements, behaviors, and communications" directed at congressional offices and family members in 2025, the department said in a press release.
- That is a nearly 60% increase from 2024, when just 9,474 threat assessment cases were opened.
- That itself was a surge from the previous year, which saw just over 8,000 cases, with the Capitol Police noting at the time that election years usually led to a rise in threats.
Zoom out: Threats targeting members of Congress have been gradually rising for years, going from just under 4,000 in 2017 — the first year of President Trump's first term — to over 8,600 by 2020.
- 2021 was a watershed year for both threats towards member of Congress and violence at the Capitol, including the Jan. 6 riot and the Good Friday attack.
- The following years saw the attack on Paul Pelosi, two assassination attempts against Trump, the fatal shootings of Charlie Kirk and Melissa Hortman, and a string of other startling security incidents involving members of Congress.
