Congressional Travel Security Increased After Lawmakers Are Accosted in Airports
In light of last week’s storming of the U.S. Capitol while Congress met to certify the electoral vote, security for Congress members will now be tightened while they’re en route to and from Washington, D.C.
This change comes after at least four lawmakers were personally harassed and berated by Trump supporters at airports for refusing to support claims that the results of the U.S. presidential election were somehow fraudulent and should be overturned.
Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Mitt Romney, of Utah, each separately found themselves surrounded by insult-tossing Trump supporters at the airport while attempting to travel back to their home states after Wednesday’s incident in the capital.
Video clips, posted online, showed Romney being hassled by people who were chanting “traitor” at him while in flight and one woman at Salt Lake City airport calling him a “disgusting shame”.
Graham found himself surrounded by Trump supporters who were loudly calling him “traitor” as he sat awaiting his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Even a law enforcement escort couldn’t shake the band of fanatics from following him.
A spokesperson for California’s Representative Lou Correa, a Democrat, confirmed that the Congressman was also heckled this week while at the airport awaiting a flight to Los Angeles.
“I was doing my job and fulfilling my constitutional duty of certifying the people’s choice for President—Joe Biden,” Correa said in a statement. “These folks clearly had a problem with that, and they got up in my face about it.”
According to a memo obtained by NBC News, the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority and U.S. Air Marshals plan on strengthening security measures and personal protective details for legislators during travel to and from America’s capital city.
The memo suggests that members of Congress will be asked to submit details of their travel plans to law enforcement officials so that police positioned at Washington Dulles, Ronald Reagan National and Baltimore/Washington airports can “ensure an increased security posture”.
On January 20, for the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, Capitol Police are reportedly set to be stationed throughout area airports in order to discourage or deal with any rabble-rousing, or actual safety threats that may arise.
The memo also reminds Congress members and their staff to “remain vigilant”, as they’re always advised to do, and to immediately report and unusual or suspicious activity.
Capitol Police and other involved law enforcement agencies have been harshly criticized for their failure to better prepare for the violent assault on the Capitol Building that occurred on January 6, leading Chief Steven Sund to resign his post.