LOCAL

From the Archives: Ellsworth says risk comes with office, exposure

Thomas B. Langhorne
tom.langhorne@courierpress.com

This story was originally published in the Sunday, January 9, 2011 edition of the Courier & Press.

Brad Ellsworth

With a fatalism borne of years in the public eye, Brad Ellsworth knew the risks when meeting constituents in public settings as a member of Congress.

Ellsworth, who received a phoned-in death threat at his Evansville office in 2009, was all too aware that an incident such as Saturday's shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., could happen to him.

So the former Vanderburgh County sheriff did something about it. He sometimes kept a permitted gun in his vehicle when making appearances at supermarkets and other public places.

"People just assume that members of Congress have security (details) assigned to be with them when they're out in their districts, but it's not true," Ellsworth, 52, said Saturday, shortly after the news broke that a gunman had shot Giffords in the head while she hosted a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a Tucson grocery store.

In the 2006 election, Ellsworth defeated then-Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., who could not be reached for comment on the Giffords shooting. Ellsworth entered Congress as the 8th District's representative in the same freshman class as Giffords , also serving with her in the House Democratic Blue Dog caucus.

"I can tell you, she is extremely intelligent," he said.

Ellsworth said he crossed paths with Giffords often in Congress. He also spent time with her in his first term while traveling in Arizona and Texas as part of a congressional delegation looking at illegal immigration issues.

"I can tell you, knowing Gabrielle, she isn't afraid of anything or anybody," he said. "She isn't a lightning rod; she isn't one of those flamethrowers.

"She's actually pretty quiet. She's very athletic, too. She loves motorcycles, and she loves the outdoors."

The Giffords incident may have an unwelcome effect, Ellsworth said.

"This is going to probably cause some members (of Congress) to have second thoughts about doing these kinds of constituent service things," he said.

Criminal incidents in which members of Congress are targeted are the province of the U.S. Capitol Police - even when crimes happen outside Washington.

In April, a Newburgh man pleaded guilty to intimidation and was sentenced to three years in prison after leaving a message on Ellsworth's office answering machine demanding help and leaving an explicit threat to kill "you people" if he didn't receive it. Ellsworth said he had the Capitol Police stand down, turning the matter over instead to local authorities.

"I think there was one (threat) prior to that, that didn't go as far. It didn't go to the extreme where the person was arrested or charged. I think. And if there were more than that, then I'm not aware of them," Ellsworth said when asked whether he received any other threats during his four-year congressional career.

The former sheriff said he got his share of threats while serving in that office, too.

"It's part of (being a public figure)," he said. "Parades. I mean, think about all the parades this summer that you walk in and you're waving or you're riding in the back of some kind of truck, and somebody could run out of the aisle and cap you right there. You couldn't protect yourself 24/7."

Ellsworth, who says he hasn't decided whether he will seek public office again, said he "definitely will" seek a job now that he is out of Congress after his defeat in last year's election to choose a successor to former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.