Additional security has been requested for some members of Congress after President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on them, according to a report.
Thompson sent a letter to House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, urging the Capitol Police Board to hold a meeting within 48 hours of receipt of the letter. Stenger is the head of the board at present.
The board should “analyze the current threat environment and set thresholds for enhanced safety of Members” and send a classified readout what happened at the meeting to him, Thompson added.
Security officials should set “thresholds for enhanced security for certain targeted Members, and evaluate threat streams with law enforcement partners in Member districts,“ Thompson continued. ”Being proactive in this instance is vital to the safety of not only these targeted Members, but all Members of Congress.”
The letter was not released publicly.
Thompson was among the Democrats criticizing Trump, writing on July 14: “It’s time to admit that the President is a racist bigot.”
In a statement on Monday, he added: “The President’s statements came as no surprise to me. He is being who he has always been.”
“Trump’s tweets were an attempt to reinforce his major priority—‘Making America White Again.’ His words are nothing short of a dog whistle to his base and white supremacists. There are 29 Members of Congress who were not born in the United States; just like his wife. The leader of our nation should not be vile, racist, misogynistic, or xenophobic. He is an embarrassment to this nation and a disgrace to the office he holds,” he added.
Trump has issued condemnations of Omar and her close allies, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashia Tlaib (D-Mich.) over the past several days, starting on Sunday when he said that “‘Progressive’ Democrat Congresswomen” should return to countries they originally came from to “fix” the “broken and crime-infested places” before returning to the United States and “show[ing] us how it is done.”
Criticized for alleged racism, Trump added on Monday: “So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call their adversaries, including Nancy Pelosi, ‘RACIST.’”
He continued throughout the day, at one point calling Ocasio-Cortez and her crowd “communists” before issuing fresh missives on Twitter on Tuesday, writing: “The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get a free pass and a big embrace from the Democrat Party.”
“Horrible anti-Israel, anti-USA, pro-terrorist & public shouting of the F...word, among many other terrible things, and the petrified Dems run for the hills,” he added. “Why isn’t the House voting to rebuke the filthy and hate laced things they have said? Because they are the Radical Left, and the Democrats are afraid to take them on. Sad!”
In yet another post, the president wrote: “Our Country is Free, Beautiful and Very Successful. If you hate our Country, or if you are not happy here, you can leave!”
