An online threat against Bachmann emerged recently. ISIL threat spurs Bachmann security

Federal law enforcement officials are taking an ISIL threat against Michele Bachmann so seriously that Capitol Police have given the Minnesota Republican her own security detail.

An online threat against Bachmann emerged recently, according to multiple law enforcement officials familiar with the situation. Last week, Bachmann was provided a security detail in response, according to the sources.


Members of the U.S. Capitol Police’s Dignitary Protection Division were briefed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The police security will continue until Bachmann, who will retire at the end of this Congress, is no longer in office.

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A police detail of this type typically means 24-hour protection when a member of Congress is on Capitol Hill or back in the home district.

Officials declined to outline the specific nature of the threat.

Bachmann’s office referred news media inquiries to Capitol Police. A Capitol Police spokeswoman declined to comment.

“The U.S. Capitol Police does not discuss law enforcement operations or security regarding Members of Congress,” spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider wrote in an email.

Bachmann has been publicly critical of not only ISIL, but also Islam, calling on President Barack Obama to declare war on the religion during a speech at the conservative Value Voters Summit at the end of September.

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“It’s because we have jihadists who subscribe to a radical ideology that believes dying in the name of Islam gets them to heaven,” Bachmann said. “And what we need to do is to defeat this Islamic jihad. Sadly, President Obama has the wrong prescription. He even fails to acknowledge their motivations for bringing about jihad. Yes, Mr. President, it is about Islam.”

Further, she said, “And I believe if you have an evil of an order of this magnitude, you take it seriously,” Bachmann said. “You declare war on it, you don’t dance around it. Just like the Islamic State has declared war on the United States of America.”

A spokesman for Bachmann disputed the characterization of her speech. “Politico’s blatant mischaracterization of the congresswoman’s speech at the Values Voters Summit hits a new low. It is abundantly clear to anybody who actually bothered to watch her speech that she was referring to declaring war on the Islamic State,” said Dan Kotman, the Bachmann spokesman.

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She has also introduced legislation that would renounce Americans’ citizenship if they join ISIL. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has introduced similar legislation in the Senate.

Congress opted in September against taking up legislation that would deal with the ISIL threat in Iraq and Syria.

Bachmann told Newsmax in September that she was told by FBI officials that Americans involved with ISIL would be allowed to return to the United States.

“We need to ‘get a brain in the United States and wake up,’” Bachmann told Newsmax of the policy of requiring U.S. citizens only to be put on a watch list and undergo additional screening. “Because the Islamic State has been very clear about their intention. That’s why they call themselves the Islamic State. They see that the global caliphate literally goes around the world, including the United States.”

This story was updated to include a response from Bachmann’s office.

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