Both Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal are calling for better security procedures at the state capitol in light of the threatening letter and suspicious powder sent to State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad earlier this week.
James Q. Lynch reported today,
Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, has asked for an “after-action report” from security personnel at the Capitol.
“I think we could have done better in our response,” Paulsen said April 5. “We did not, in my opinion, do a particularly good job of containing it.”
Capt. Mark Logsdon of Post 16 agreed there’s room for improvement.
“Fortunately, we don’t have these kinds of incidents very often,” Logsdon said, “but unfortunately, we’re not better prepared.” […]
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, also called for a review.
“It’s important to remember that in a civil society an attack on a somebody’s free speech and, basically, a threat they will be murdered is an incredibly inappropriate thing,” Gronstal said. “More than worrying about our procedures we want to make sure we do our best to catch people who level those kinds of threats.”
Not only were Abdul-Samad and his clerk not isolated immediately after the letter was opened, other Iowa House members walked into the rotunda and even the Iowa Senate chamber before hazmat personnel had analyzed the white powder. In addition, various people (including the small children of one lawmaker) were allowed to enter the Iowa House chamber during the hour after the suspicious envelope had been opened.
It’s not known how many people left the statehouse between the time Abdul-Samad’s clerk discovered the powder (sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 pm) and the time security personnel asked members of the public not to leave the building (shortly before 5:00 pm). Iowa House debate was suspended for about three hours before hazmat declared the powder not to be hazardous.
Neither Abdul-Samad nor law enforcement authorities have revealed details about the threatening letter’s content.