…buying body armor – congressman
Peter Meijer (R-Michigan) says he and other Republicans fear for their lives after voting in favour of impeaching President Donald Trump.
“Many of us are altering our routines, working to get body armor, which is a reimbursable purchase that we can make,” Meijer told MSNBC in a Thursday interview.
Meijer was one of the 10 Republicans to break from their party and join Democrats in voting for Trump’s impeachment, which now faces an uncertain future as the Senate reconvenes on January 19, a day ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration, meaning if it moves forward, the impeachment trial would occur during Biden’s first days in office.
“It’s sad that we have to get to that point,” Meijer said of the added precautions being taken in light of the US Capitol siege last week. “But our expectation is that someone may try to kill us.”
“Obviously we saw what happened January 6 and the fact that there are 20,000 national guardsmen in D.C. right now, there’s a feeling that there’s no control here and we don’t know what’s going to happen next,” the Republican added.
Meijer, a freshman congressman who succeeded Justin Amash, himself a conservative Trump critic who switched to the Libertarian Party earlier this year, was praised by liberals for his vote.
The Republican congressman called his decision a “vote of conscience.”