The attorney general of USA, Merrick Garlanddenounced this Friday a “deeply worrying” rebound in threats to public officials. “These threats of violence are unacceptable,” Garland told reporters on the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by supporters of donald trumpfavorite for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the November elections.
“They threaten the fabric of our democracy,” said Garland, who is also attorney general. According to him, there has been a “deeply worrying uptick in threats” against those who serve the public during the last months of 2023.
The Justice Department has investigated and charged individuals for making violent threats against FBI agents, federal judges, including a Supreme Court judge, presidential candidates, members of Congress, members of the military, and election workers. “This week there have been several bomb threats against courthouses across the country,” Garland said, and on Thursday a person was arrested accused of threatening to kill a congressman and his children.
Worrying trend
“This is just a small sample of a broader trend that has included threats of violence against those who administer our elections, ensure the safety of our travels, teach our children, report the news, represent voters and keep our communities safe,” he said.
On the third anniversary of the assault on the Capitol, Garland said it represents a “unprecedented attack against the cornerstone” of the “system of government: the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.
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More than 1,250 people have been charged in relation to the January 6 attack against Congress and more than 890 have been convicted, he reported. “As I have said before, the Department of Justice will hold all perpetrators of January 6, at any level, accountable to the law, whether they were present that day or otherwise criminally responsible,” he stressed.
Trump was accused in August of having tried to alter the results of the November 2020 election, in which Democrat Joe Biden won, and of having “directed a crowd in front of him to go to the Capitol,” according to the indictment by a Washington grand jury.