State Officeholders Take Cautionary Approach in Wake of Arizona Shootings

While public officials in some parts of the country sought stepped up security in the wake of the shootings at a political event in Arizona, Maryland lawmakers and office holders said they were being prudent, practical and careful not to overreact.

Several members of Congress said they were looking first to authorities like the U.S. Capitol Police, responsible for the protection of Congress members in Washington, to advise them on what they can do to make themselves and their staffs safer.

“I have sent a letter to Capitol Police asking them to evaluate my district office,” said  Rep. C.A. Ruppersberger, D-MD. The four-term Congress member said he has received threats in the past but he is “most concerned about the staff in my district office and my wife.”

Ruppersberger, a former prosecutor and Baltimore County executive whose 2nd Congressional District includes communities in Owings Mills, Randallstown, Rosedale, Dundalk, Towson, Severn, Timonium and Cherry Hill in Baltimore, said he had traveled to Iraq with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, who was severely wounded in a shooting outside a Tucson supermarket.  

 “I’ll be waiting for the professionals to give us information” before making any security changes, he said.

Maryland lawmakers’ reactions were in contrast to some of their congressional colleagues’ responses to the killing of six, including Giffords’ community outreach director and a 9-year-old Tucson girl, Christina Taylor Green, by a man whom police and witnesses say may have been mentally disturbed.

Rep. Peter King, R-NY, announced he would propose a law to make it illegal to carry a weapon within 1,000 feet of federal officials and members of Congress. Rep. Robert Brady, D-PA, says he wants to punish even the use of symbols or rhetoric that appears to threaten members of Congress.

In New Hampshire, the state legislature voted to allow lawmakers to carry weapons on the statehouse floor.

But most officials in Maryland say they are taking the same approach they always have regarding safety and security.

“We don’t generally comment on security for security reasons,” said Brianne Nadeau, press secretary for Sen. John Sarbanes, who represents Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. “It’s our being prudent to not comment.”

Sarbanes issued a written statement on the situation.

“Coming home to Maryland each night allows me to actively communicate and interact with my constituents. I will continue to have an open dialogue with those I represent in the Congress,” Sarbanes said in the statement.

“In the wake of this terrible tragedy, the relevant law enforcement authorities will likely provide further guidance to protect all those who attend public forums and their right to peaceful assembly.  I welcome that direction and will give it careful review.”

In Annapolis, where two incendiary packages were discovered in state office mailrooms two weeks, Gov. Martin O’Malley also called for a measured approach.

The governor has stressed that “fear in these instances doesn’t help alleviate the pain, but the bigger danger is falling into the temptation of despair,” press secretary Shaun Adamec quoted the governor as saying.

When the package incidents occurred, several state government buildings were evacuated, but “there are no extraordinary measures being taken” in the wake of the violence in Arizona, according to Adamec.

Many Maryland communities are home to sensitive federal facilities, but officials say official offices are conducting business as usual. Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold said he had instructed that all county buildings be inspected for safety recently.

“I am confident the county is prepared to protect citizens and their freedoms,” even at the new federal cyber security facility at Fort Meade, Leopold said. “Emergency operations personnel are constantly on the alert. We are prepared.”

Even those responsible for keeping officials and the public safe in Maryland say they are taking few extraordinary steps.

Howard County police and sheriff’s departments have been brought in to screen mail deliveries, said Elizabeth Schroen, police spokewoman.

But, Howard County Sheriff James Fitzgerald said there have been no concerns or threats to judges for whose safety his department is responsible and his only plans included attending a routine security meeting Jan. 14 at the county courthouse.

Inspections of judges’ chambers and the courthouse, as well as alarm checks, are done on a weekly basis, according to Deputy Bob Brown of the Baltimore County Sheriff’s Department, but no new security procedures have been implemented, he said.