'I don't feel safe': A year after January 6, women in Congress still fear for their security

[Nevilledog]

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Tweet text:

Barbara Rodriguez
@bcrodriguez
"...when members were asked to remove their pins, one of the things that kind of went through our minds is: ‘I can remove my pin, but I can’t remove the color of my skin.’” @cjnorwoodwrites + @marielpadilla_ spoke w/ lawmakers about Jan. 6 and security:

‘I don’t feel safe’: A year after January 6, women in Congress still fear for their security
Thirty-eight lawmakers spoke to The 19th to reflect on the insurrection at the Capitol and its reverberations.
19thnews.org
11:58 AM · Jan 5, 2022

https://19thnews.org/2022/01/january-6-congress-women-safety/

Rep. Nikema Williams does not like to talk about that day — she’s still dealing with the emotion and fear. What should have marked a celebratory first week in Congress will be remembered for an attack on democracy, and elected officials, as hundreds of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop certification of the election.
On January 6, 2021, the new Georgia representative hid in her office as the building went on lockdown. Since then, Williams has hired personal security and made safety changes that she won’t discuss in detail in order to protect her family. But even with that — plus a year of public outcry, internal investigations and congressional hearings to examine the security failures during the Capitol attack — Williams still feels unsafe.
“I try to not think about it often, and I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t want to do this interview today,” Williams told The 19th in December. “I am still wary of the security of members at the U.S. Capitol, especially as a Black woman. I know that some of my colleagues, when incidents happen, they can blend in and people won’t actually know who they are or what sides they’re on. But I don’t have that luxury as a Black woman in the United States Congress.”

In recent years, more women in public office have spoken out about the harassment they experience and threats to their safety. For women of color in Congress, like Williams, the sense of danger is heightened by threats and abuse that are both racist and sexist. In many ways, January 6 was the most extreme in a string of escalating threats.

*snip*

[Budi]

1. None of us feel safe, but the threat those members experience that day was terror.

The police that did their job at the front doors, the Reps who ran for a place to hide, & we who watched in shock.
While Trump & his kind were sitting & watching it all go down, like a movie script they'd written out.

[uponit7771]

2. Shit I don't either !! I'm 6'5 240 ... Looking at history repeat itself and too many people looking

... down is scary as hell.