WASHINGTON — The reality is political violence is a real threat facing our country.

The Department of Homeland Security has issued bulletins and so has the FBI. Examples have even emerged in recent weeks of the threats officials of both political parties are facing.

This summer, after the Supreme Court decision on abortion, a man was arrested with a gun and charged with attempting to kill Justice Brett Kavanaugh near the justice's home.

In July, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY) was attacked by a man at a political rally.

This past week, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal revealed to the Washington Post that an armed man yelled outside her home in Seattle for over an hour.

Also, there was the FBI raid at former President Donald Trump's residence at Mar-a-lago, and the FBI office in Cincinnati was attacked by a Navy veteran, who police say had extremist ties.

On Capitol Hill in 2017, there were around 3,900 threats against members of Congress, according to Capitol Police records.

Last year, there were over 9,600.

OPENING UP

One Member of Congress has been especially forthcoming about the threats he is facing. Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of only two Republicans on the January 6th committee, posted on Twitter audio of some of the threatening voicemails his office has received.

"I pray that it be God's will that you suffer," one caller said.

"We know where you live," another called threatened.

INCREASED SECURITY

Those threats, as well as others, have resulted in taxpayers footing the bill for more security for members of Congress. Typically, only those in senior leadership positions, like the Speaker of the House or the minority leader, are given protection.

In recent weeks, security officials at the capitol have approved $10,000 worth of security upgrades for the homes of members of Congress to pay for things like new alarms, doors or lighting.

ISSUE FOR VOTERS

Voters are beginning to take these threats seriously and some recent polls are showing the threat of political violence driving some voters this election.

In fact, a CBS/Yougov poll from late August shows that 64% of Americans believe political violence will increase from here.

In January of 2021, after the January 6th attack, only 51% of Americans thought that.

A recent NBC poll identified the threat of political violence as a driving force among voters this election.

LONGMEADOW, Mass. — A Massachusetts woman is accused of attacking authorities with a swarm of bees to stop a court-ordered eviction in Longmeadow.

On Thursday, the Hampden County Sheriff's Office said on its Facebook page that on Oct. 12 at around 9:30 a.m., Rorie Woods drove up in her Nissan Xterra with a flatbed trailer attached up to a residence as deputies were serving a court-ordered eviction.

"She quickly jumped out of her SUV and started trying to unleash thousand of bees in manufactured hives as a deputy jumped onboard and tried to stop her," the department said in a statement.

The department said the deputy was stung several times in his face and head.

According to the sheriff's office, Woods flipped the entire hive tower off her flatbed, which "extremely agitated" the bees. Deputies said this led to several members of the sheriff's office and other bystanders getting stung, the report said.

Donning a beekeeper suit, deputies were able to arrest Woods as she attempted to a hive closer to the door of the home, according to the statement.

As deputies walked her to a cruiser, one of them told her that he and several other deputies were allergic to bees.

“Oh, you’re allergic? Good,” she allegedly stated back, according to the report.

The sheriff's office said one department staff member was hospitalized after being stung.

The Washington Post reported that several protesters were gathered outside the residence, which Woods yelled at to ask them to take care of her dog, "which she said was unfed, and left in the SUV with thousands of bees swarming outside of it," according to the sheriff's office said.

According to the sheriff's office, the 55-year-old woman did not live at the residence where deputies were serving an eviction notice.

Woods was arrested, arraigned, and released by a judge without having to post bail, but she will appear in court at a later date, the sheriff's office said.

“Never in all my years of leading the Hampden County Sheriff’s Civil Process Division have I seen something like this,” said Robert Hoffman, Chief Deputy of the Civil Process Office, in a statement. "I’m just thankful no one died because bee allergies are serious."

Related video above: Drone pics show damage after strike on Kramatorsk

Russian forces struck critical infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and launched multiple strikes on energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia early Friday as Moscow stepped up its attacks in Ukraine's south and east and air raid sirens went off across much of the country.

Zaporizhzhia City Council Secretary Anatolii Kurtiev said the city had been hit 17 times in one hour, which he said made it the most intense period of attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In Kharkiv, authorities were still trying to establish information on victims and scale of the destruction, with Mayor Ihor Terekhov saying there may be disruptions to heating and the electricity and water supply.

Military analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping that Europe's support for Ukraine will wane, as Russia is believed to be preparing a new offensive.

Fighting in Ukraine intensified Thursday. Kyiv's military intelligence agency said Russian forces have launched an offensive in the partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with the aim to grab full control of the entire industrial region, known as the Donbas. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces there since 2014.

Related video above: Thousands of Ukrainians flee to Poland

Yurii Zhyhanov woke before dawn to his mother’s screaming and found himself covered in dust. On the second day of Russia's invasion, shelling on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, struck their residential building.

Many civilians, horrified to find their lives at risk, started to flee during the attack's first hours. Amid the smoke and the screeching of car alarms on Friday, Zhyhanov and his family packed and joined them.

“What are you doing? What is this?” he said, addressing Russia and gesturing to the damaged building behind him. “If you want to attack military personnel, attack military personnel. This is all I can say.”

His weariness and shock reflected that of his country as people climbed out of bomb shelters, basements and subways to face another day of upheaval.

Those who didn’t wake to explosions were roused by air raid sirens. Then came the news that Russian forces had advanced to the capital's outskirts.

Russia has said it is not targeting cities, but the fighting seemed far too close.

The body of a dead soldier lay near a Kyiv underpass. Elsewhere, fragments of a downed aircraft smoked in a residential area. Black plastic was draped over body parts found amid the brick homes.

Armored personnel carriers drove down the city’s streets. Soldiers on empty bridges established defensive positions. Residents stood uneasily in doorways of apartment buildings, watching.

Outside a monastery, a woman lifted her hands toward a mural of saints and appeared to pray. In the port city of Mariupol, a young girl named Vlada wished for the assault to stop.

“I don’t want to die,” she said. “I want all of this to end as soon as possible.”

Uncertainty compounded the fear. On a street in the Obolon district, Associated Press journalists saw a military truck disabled, its tires deflated. The truck had no apparent insignia, and it was not clear if it was a vehicle that Ukraine's general staff claimed had been stolen by Russian forces aiming to disguise themselves as local ones.

Ukrainians picked through the damage left by shelling. And some mourned.

In the city of Horlivka, in the territory held by pro-Russian rebels, a body covered with a blanket lay outside a house that had been hit. A man standing nearby spoke on the phone.

“Yes, Mom’s gone, that’s all,” he said. “That’s it, Mom’s gone.”

The U.N. human rights office said it was receiving increasing reports of civilian casualties, with at least 25 deaths verified, mostly from shelling and airstrikes. “The figures, we fear, could be much higher,” agency spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.

The urge to run away grew. Some civilians approached borders on foot, wheeling luggage behind them. “It’s unfortunate that we got here in our old age, facing a war,” said Marika Sipos, who had left her home in Koson. She wiped her eyes.

At a train station just across the border in Poland, hundreds of people from Ukraine sought shelter. Some curled up on cots, trying to sleep. A woman stroked the hair of a young girl.

One of those at the station was Andry Borysov, who said he had heard the rush of something flying overhead and then an explosion as he hurried to catch a train out of Kyiv.

“It was an unmistakable sound,” he said.

Some hesitated to leave, even as they stood on railway platforms.

In Kostiantynivka, a government-controlled area in the separatist-held Donetsk People’s Republic, a woman who gave only her first name, Yelena, appeared undecided.

“It’s 50-50 on whether it is worth leaving or not,” she said. “But it wouldn’t hurt to leave for a couple days, for a weekend.”

Others leaving Ukraine knew it might take much longer before they could return home.

WASHINGTON —

President Joe Biden will visit all three 9/11 memorial sites to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and pay his respects to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

Biden will visit ground zero in New York City, the Pentagon and the memorial outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where United Flight 93 was forced down, the White House said Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, for a separate event before joining the president at the Pentagon, the White House said.

Biden's itinerary is similar to the one President Barack Obama followed in 2011 on the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Obama's visit to New York City coincided with the opening of memorial at the site where the iconic World Trade Center towers once stood.

Next Saturday's anniversary falls less than two weeks after the end of the nearly two-decade-long U.S. war in Afghanistan. The war was launched weeks after the 9/11 attacks to retaliate against the al-Qaida plotters and the Taliban, who provided them safe haven.

Biden has found support from the public for ending the conflict but has faced sharp criticism, even from allies, for the chaotic evacuation of U.S. troops and allied Afghans during the final two weeks of August.

Biden on Friday directed the declassification of certain documents related to the Sept. 11 attacks in a gesture toward victims' families who have long sought the records in hopes of implicating the Saudi government.

The conflict between the government and the families over what classified information could be made public came into the open last month after many relatives, survivors and first responders said they would object to Biden's participation in 9/11 memorial events if the documents remained classified.

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Superville reported from Wilmington, Delaware.