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The US Capitol Police is opening field offices in California and other states, which critics warn could lead to an ‘American Stasi.’
The Capitol Police said the field offices are intended to “investigate threats to members of Congress,” but this is typically already under the purview of the FBI and other agencies.
Given that Congress has much stronger control over the Capitol Police than the FBI, this has led to critics comparing the expansion of the Capitol Police to the creation of a Stasi-style police force targeting political dissidents.
“The FBI has offices all over the US and can respond much quicker to investigate a threat,” said one LA Times commenter. “There should be continuous coordination between the Capitol Police and the FBI for threats to Congress members.”
“I don’t see a need for separate regional offices for the Capitol Police.”
It’s telling that one of the first field offices is in Florida, the home state of Donald Trump and the national redoubt of the “America First” movement.
House Democrats could use the Capitol Police not to respond to legitimate threats, but rather to bolster their “insurrection” narrative as they will now have a nationwide “law enforcement” agency controlled entirely by politicians.
In comparison, the East German Stasi was a national police force also ran by the political class to fight opposition within socialist East Germany by spying on the population.
It’s not hard to imagine Karen ratting out her neighbor to the Capitol Police because she overheard him disparaging Nancy Pelosi.