Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News Major Garrett says the Minnesota slayings and shootings that rocked the nation over the weekend will absolutely change how congressional lawmakers operate.
"This will change the way town halls are done," says Garrett. "This will change the way members of Congress move about the community. It will change the way that they come back to the district and reside within the district."
U.S. Capitol Police leaders and Senate security officials said that threats against elected officials, including federal lawmakers, have “dramatically increased,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said after the briefing, “and that means we need more protection.”
Garrett told WCCO's Chad Hartman the "stalking" nature of the incident is a stark reminder for those politicians that they're vulnerable.
"The sort of nightmarish stalking nature of all of this reminds people in public life, that a country that appreciates and in some cases politically demands, that transparency now can be weaponized against you," Garrett explained.
The suspect in the Minnesota attack had dozens of Democratic members of Congress listed in his writings, in addition to the state lawmakers and others he’s accused of targeting. The man is accused of shooting and killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs and wounding another lawmaker and his wife at their home.
Still, it is unclear what more can be done amid yearslong disagreements over how much money should be spent to protect lawmakers.
GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn said after the briefing that they were told that threats against public officials are going up, but “it's always a resource issue, and it's trying to make sure that it's proportional to the threat and not an overreaction.”