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Congressional Security and the Tucson Shooting
Following the Jan. 8 shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Federal
District Judge John McCarthy Roll and 17 others in Tucson, Arizona,
discussion has focused on the motivations and ideology of the accused
shooter, Jared Loughner. While it was important to make a quick
assessment of Loughner’s profile in order to evaluate the possibility of
an organized threat, all the available evidence (though not conclusive)
indicates that he acted alone.
For the most part, discussion of the event has not touched on a
reevaluation of security for members of Congress. STRATFOR has
previously analyzed the issues surrounding presidential security, and
while there are common concerns in protecting all branches of
government, Congress and the judiciary involve much larger numbers of
people — 535 representatives and senators and more than 3,000 federal
judges. And members of Congress put a high priority on public
accessibility, which makes them more vulnerable. Read more »
