Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) said on Thursday that he has purchased body armor and has been altering his routine amid concerns that his life could be threatened, especially after he joined a group of nine other House Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump for inciting an insurrection.
“I have colleagues who are now traveling with armed escorts out of the fear for their safety,” Meijer said during an MSNBC interview on Thursday morning. He added that he has altered routines and is among a group of lawmakers who are “working to get body armor.”
GOP Rep. Peter Meijer (MI) who voted to impeach Trump said on Thursday he has altered routines and purchased body armor amid death threat concerns: "our expectation is someone may try to kill us." pic.twitter.com/0tAGzc4T6D
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 14, 2021
“It’s sad that we have to get to that point. But our expectation is that someone may try to kill us,” the Republican lawmaker said, later adding that tensions on Capitol Hill created an atmosphere of not knowing “what will happen next.”
“We’re obviously trying to keep a very low profile,” Meijer said. “We have to account for every scenario.”
The moves to double down on his own safety, as the nation’s capital braces for further potential violence, comes as Meijer voted to impeach the President on Wednesday in the wake of the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol that Trump has been criticized for inflaming.
“If we’re heal going to heal the wounds, we can’t paper over it, we can’t just move on with false calls for unity,” Meijer said, in comments that appeared to criticize efforts by some congressional Republicans to avoid holding Trump or themselves responsible for fueling the Jan. 6 attack.
“We need to have accountability for what happened, we need to hold people responsible and then we can move to put this past us,” he added.
