GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — On Wednesday, 10 House Republicans crossed the aisle in voting to impeach President Donald Trump.
Now they are facing blowback and even threats from their former supporters.
“Our expectation is that there are folks who will try to kill us,” Congressman Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapidstold FOX17 just two days before he cast his vote to impeach the President.
A vote he was “strongly considering” following the attack on the Capitol.
“To me that that failure to not accept some responsibility for the crowd, the mob that descended on the capitol, that left me with no choice,” Meijer said.
The freshman representative was just one of the ten Republicans to support Trump’s impeachment, saying he did so with a heavy heart.
“To those who supported me who are frustrated or feel betrayed by this decision, I express my regret but at the end of the day this was a vote of conscience,” Meijer said. “I think in the long term. You know, we need to work to heal these divisions but today you know we need to make sure that leaders are held accountable for their actions.
But the fiery divisions are still evident, with Meijer facing immediate blowback from constituents in "red" west Michigan and afar.
While some are just angry, others are threatening.
“I've been called a traitor more times than I can count, I’ve been told to kill myself, I don't think we've received death threats, yet, but I wouldn't be surprised. I've been told that folks are planning to show up at my home in Grand Rapids, this weekend and, you know, in the 1000s,” Meijer said.
With law enforcement warning about potential acts of violence in the coming weeks, the Army veteran told MSNBC Thursday he and some colleagues are working on getting body armor and staying vigilant.
“The side that resorts of political violence is the side that has the losing argument. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let any threats along those lines influence me one way or the other. I think when you cower to the mob you sacrifice more than just your decision in that moment,” Meijer told FOX 17.
