WASHINGTON – Security will be tightened for members of Congress as they travel after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol and harassed at least three lawmakers at airports for failing to support the election campaign.
The Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority and US Air Marshals will increase security for congress trips to and from Washington, according to a memorandum received by NBC News.
The memorandum calls on members of Congress to consider submitting plans to law enforcement officials to ensure an increased security position at the airports of Washington Dulles, Ronald Reagan National and Baltimore / Washington.
The Capitol police will be stationed at the airports by the election of Pres. Joe Biden on January 20th.
The memo was released a few days after Republican Sens Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Mitt Romney, of Utah, were bewitched by Trump supporters while traveling to their home countries.
In a video posted online, a woman walks up to Romney while working on a computer at Salt Lake City airport, referring to him as a ‘disgusting disgrace’, reports The Associated Press.
In a separate incident at Reagan airport, Trump supporters called Graham “a traitor” because he refused to support allegations that the presidential election was “fixed,” according to a video posted on Twitter.
Louis Correa, a Democrat, was also harassed in Dulles this week while waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles, according to his spokesman.
“I have done my job and fulfilled my constitutional duty to ‘confirm the people’s choice for President Joe Biden,'” Correa said in a statement. These people clearly had a problem with it and they stood up in my face about it. But as my voters know, I will not withdraw from a fight and I will always stand up for my community and our democracy. ‘
As they travel, members of Congress and their staff are advised to “be vigilant” and immediately report suspicious or unusual activities, the memo reads.
Capitol police and other law enforcement agencies have come under heavy criticism for not being better prepared for Wednesday’s violent invasion, which led Chief Steven Sund to announce his resignation.
The riot ended in the deaths of a U.S. police officer in the Capitol and a Trump supporter, and three other supporters were killed due to medical emergencies.
Biden criticized what he described as a double standard between the way law enforcers react to the pro-Trump mob, versus how they treated Black Lives Matter supporters over the summer.
“No one can tell me that if it was a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would not be treated very differently from the crowd of thugs who stormed the Capitol,” he said on Thursday. “We all know it’s true. And that is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. ‘
Alex Moe reports from Washington and Alicia Victoria Lozano from Los Angeles.
