Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) called for an uptick in congressional security amid rising political violence, suggesting the FBI needs to be more involved in confronting online “rhetoric.”

Cramer’s call for action comes after two Minnesota state lawmakers were shot early Saturday morning, resulting in the death of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, along with the injuries of Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Cramer suggested that social media and online discourse are partly to blame, noting that it has gone from people using freedom of speech to vent their frustration to people issuing “threats” against others.

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“When they cross that line from anger to a threat, I think they have to be confronted immediately,” Cramer stated on Fox News’s The Faulkner Focus. “There’s nothing like a visit by an FBI agent at your front door for somebody to apologize profusely and say ‘I didn’t mean to go that far.’ I think that’s helpful. I think some prosecutions are helpful. I think far too often, we just sort of say ‘well, you know, prosecutors will say, well, freedom of speech and all that.’ No, a threat is assault and it needs to be treated as such. We have to deter.”

Amid the concern on political violence, Cramer said he is calling for increased security for himself, citing that his family needs to have peace of mind that they are safe. He acknowledged that the “challenge” this poses to Capitol police is protecting 535 lawmakers and their families, but stressed that this must be accomplished and that “hopefully” society changes overtime.

Following the Minnesota shootings, the Washington Examiner’s Salena Zito has argued that those committing political violence do so because they are “unhinged from reality.” She acknowledged that some perpetrators will use politics or religion as their motive, but suggested that the actions by these people have “nothing actually to do with how people really feel about politics.”

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Besides the respective killing and injury of Hortman and Hoffman, other acts of political violence in the last year include the two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, in July and September, as well as the arson attack against Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-PA) governor’s mansion in April. 

Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect in the Minnesota shootings, is facing federal and state charges. He made his first appearance in federal court on Monday, and will remain in the custody of U.S. marshals until his next hearing.