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 not supporting an effort to overturn election results.
The Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority and the US Air Marshals will increase security for Congress travel to and from Washington, according to a memo obtained by NBC News.
The memo asks members of Congress to consider presenting plans to law enforcement officials to “ensure greater security posture” at Washington Dulles, Ronald Reagan National and Baltimore / Washington airports.
Capitol Police will be stationed at airports until President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20.
The memo was issued a few days after the Republicans Sens. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, and Mitt Romney, of Utah, were questioned by Trump supporters while traveling to their home states.
In a video posted online, a woman walked up to Romney while he worked on a computer at the Salt Lake City airport and referred to him as a “disgusting shame,” the Associated Press reported.
In a separate incident at Reagan Airport, Trump supporters called Graham “a traitor” for refusing to support claims that the presidential election “was rigged”, according to one video posted on Twitter.
California deputy Lou Correa, a Democrat, was also harassed in Dulles this week while waiting for a flight to Los Angeles to board, according to his spokesman.
“I was doing my job and fulfilling my constitutional duty to certify the people’s choice for president – Joe Biden,” said Correa in a statement. “These people clearly had a problem with that and questioned me. But, as my constituents know, I will not give up on a fight and I will always defend my community and our democracy ”.
During the trip, members of Congress and their team are advised to “remain vigilant” and immediately report suspicious or unusual activity, the memo says.
Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies have been harshly criticized for not being better prepared for Wednesday’s violent foray, prompting Chief Steven Sund to announce his resignation.
The riot ended with the death of a United States Capitol policeman and a Trump supporter, and three other supporters died in medical emergencies.
Biden criticized what he described as a double standard between how the police reacted to the pro-Trump crowd and how they treated Black Lives Matter supporters over the summer.
“No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they would not have been treated in a very, very different way from the crowd of thugs who invaded the Capitol,” he said on Thursday. “We all know that this is true. And it is unacceptable. Totally unacceptable.”
Alex Moe reported from Washington and Alicia Victoria Lozano from Los Angeles.
