WASHINGTON D.C. — Washington has dealt with a lot this month: an insurrection, an inauguration, and now an impeachment.
These events have prompted a new, unfavorable environment at the Capitol for Ontario Democrat Rep. Norma Torres. She recalled how she was one of a few legislators in the House gallery when the pro-Trump mobs broke into the Capitol.
“Everything just hit us, all at once,” Torres said.
Six days into the new year, Torres found herself “running for her life” in the Capitol. She said she made a point not to contact her family to avoid scaring them, but as she made her way through a narrow staircase to escape the chambers, her son called her.
“I literally said, ‘Honey, sweetheart, I’m OK and I’m running for my life right now and I cannot talk to you.’ You know that was one of the very toughest things I ever had to say to my kids,” Torres said.
As crowds shattered windows and guards held back violent insurrectionists, Torres tried to focus. Her son works in law enforcement and, in the moment, she felt grief for how he might be worried for her.
“I know that at that moment [my son] wished he was with me to protect me but the best way to protect me at that moment was to let me be the person I needed to be at that moment,” Torres said.
It was one of her most frightful moments, and it’s one that lingered to what was supposed to be a celebratory inauguration day, one week later.
“I was wearing a [bulletproof] vest at that ceremony,” Torres said. “I did not feel safe. Even though we had thousands of people there to help secure the Capitol Grounds, I was still not feeling safe about being around members of Congress who are so reluctant to go through a metal detector.”
The deadly siege on the Capitol brought to light another concern after more metal detectors were installed in the Capitol. Some GOP lawmakers refused to cooperate. Some, like Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX, said the detectors were unnecessary and that Capitol Police should focus their attention elsewhere. Another Republican lawmaker, Rep. Andy Harris, R-MD, was caught trying to bring a firearm onto the House floor.
"[Capitol Police] being asked to focus their responsibility, to look at members of Congress, and we’re supposed to exercise our constitutional duty to go vote on the house of Representatives, and we’re wasting resources and time by drawing their attention to members of Congress by the entrance of the House floor — that is a waste of resources. Roy said. "That endangers lives. It also puts us at the floor of the House as sitting ducks."
Defiance prompted Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce a $5,000 fine for members who won’t listen and $10,000 for subsequent offenses. But Torres said that’s not enough.
"I serve with some of the richest people in our country," said Torres. "And as the poorest member of Congress, that fine might impact me and change my behavior but it’s not going to change the behavior of many members of Congress who are multi-millionaires."
One California Democratic colleague, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Fort Bragg, is now working on a new rule that would bar legislators from having firearms at the Capitol, even in their offices. But the real solution, Torres explained, is for constituents to elect members who have "common courtesy."
“I do not feel safe at all,” Torres said.
She hopes no one has to feel this afraid to be at work. And because of the Capitol riots, she introduced a bill to give vice presidents lifetime protection, rather than six months. She said several rioters were openly calling out death threats against former Vice President Mike Pence that day, and she fears for his safety and Harris’, and anyone else who may fill the role. Her concern and desire for their protection goes beyond party lines.