CIRCUIT MAGAZINE ISSUE 61
Industry News At A Glance
We cast our eye over the main stories impacting the security industry. Here's what's appeared on the radar since the last issue. For many lawmakers, the January 6 attack served as a wake-up call to the threat of violence in American politics. As the proTrump mob ransacked the Capitol, then-Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were whisked away to safety while other elected officials huddled behind police-guarded doors. Following the Capitol siege, Republicans who criticized Trump were among the biggest spenders on security. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who voted in favor of Trump's second impeachment, hired a security consulting firm and retained three Secret Service agents who'd previously protected her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. Rising threat of partisan violence in the United States leads to increased Private Security spend
Beyond the January 6 attacks, prominent politicians have been targeted in plots or seriously wounded in attacks.
Security spending for US politicians became easier in March 2021, when the FEC ruled that members of Congress could spend campaign funds on "bona fide, legitimate, professional personal security personnel."
A gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat from Arizona, in the head during a 2011 constituent event, nearly killing her. In 2017, a gunman shot Republican House Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana while he was practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game in Alexandria, Virginia. A neighbor attacked Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, breaking several of his ribs and cutting his face.
But some lawmakers had charged protection-related expenditures to their campaigns even before the agency's ruling, particularly in the weeks after supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. "This is not an uptick, this is a huge avalanche of new spending on security. And it all began with the Trump," Holman said. "Trump supporters and Trump himself have encouraged violence against those who disagree with Trump."
In 2020, 14 men were arrested and charged in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Of the six arrested on a federal kidnapping conspiracy charge, one has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against the rest at a trial later this year. Source >
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