Republican congressman Peter Meije, of Michigan, said during an interview on MSNBC that he’s buying body armor and altering his routine amid fears of violence against him after voting to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting last week’s deadly riot at the Capitol.
“When it comes to my family’s safety, that’s something we’ve been planning for and preparing for,” he told MSNBC host Hallie Jackson, adding that some of his colleagues now travel with armed escorts and are altering their routines and working to get body armor of their own.
“It’s sad that we have to get to that point, but our expectation is that someone may try to kill us.”
When Jackson specifically asked Meijer if he was trying to get armed security, alter his routes or purchasing bulletproof armor, he said, “I am.”
“That’s something we’re all kind of working together because obviously, we saw what happened on Jan. 6 and the fact that there are 20,000 National Guardsmen in D.C. right now, there is a feeling that there is not control here and we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Meijer said.
“We weren’t expecting for the Capitol to get overrun for the first time in 200 years, and so in this unprecedented environment with this unprecedented fear of divisiveness and hatred, we have to account for every scenario,” he added.
The House on Wednesday voted 232-197 to impeach Trump for “inciting insurrection” that left five people dead and dozens injured.
Several GOP lawmakers had previously told reporters that threats of violence toward them and their families was a factor in their decisions on whether to impeach Trump.
Watch:
“Our expectation is that somebody may try to kill us.” — Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI), who voted to impeach Trump, says he and other lawmakers believe their lives are in danger following yesterday’s impeachment.pic.twitter.com/stOO00OKYD
— The Recount (@therecount) January 14, 2021
