After Romney, Graham Accosted by Trump Supporters in Airports, Members of Congress to Get Increased Security While Traveling
After videos went viral showing supporters of President Donald Trump accosting Senators in airports to yell at them and accuse them of being traitors to the president — not to mention the troubling scenes of the riots at the Capitol — members of Congress will be getting increased security at airports, at least for the near future.
CNN’s Manu Raju reported that the U.S. Capitol Police and Sergeant at Arms’ office sent a notice to members of Congress on Saturday, outlining plans to coordinate with the U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies around the country to ensure their safety as they travel between Washington, D.C. and their home districts.
Capitol Police officers will also be stationed at all three major D.C. area airports through Inauguration Day, January 20: Reagan National Airport (DCA), Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) spoke to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about the enhanced security.
Blitzer mentioned recent events events where Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were accosted by angry Trump supporters at airports, as well as the obvious security concerns invoked by the Capitol riots.
“The work of members of Congress is to travel back and forth,” explained Spanberger, a former CIA intelligence officer. “We live in our districts and the places we represent and the places we’re raising our family, and we travel back and forth to Washington.”
Spanberger, who represents a Virginia district and drives to the Capitol, noted that most members’ commute to work is on airplanes, and called the videos of Romney and Graham being heckled “rather aggressive and quite dangerous.”
She told Blitzer that they had been asked to keep airport security aware of their travel itineraries and some sort of security escort would be arranged for them.
Spanberger described how many of her congressional colleagues “speak so positively” of their interactions and “human moments” with their constituents as they travel, “but the recent tensions are just at a fever pitch that are absolutely dangerous.”
“As I keep saying,” Blitzer replied, “hard to believe this is all happening here in the United States of America,” urging Spanberger to “be careful out there.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
