Retired United States Air Force Brigadier General and now Congressman Don Bacon is no stranger to danger as he served three tours of duty in the Middle East. However, there are new concerns of safety of elected officials and political tensions continue to build. Some lawmakers are worried about physical assaults. Bacon says he and his family are taking notice.
Congressman Bacon says, “We are conscious about it. When I have my grandkids, they are obviously conscious about it is well. We take precautions. I’ll just leave it at that. A smart person has to take precautions for their security in this situation.”
Congressman Bacon says he received a letter from an 80 year old woman that stated she wanted to cut him into pieces. He says you have to have a tough skin in politics and comments like that don’t bother him much.
Just this week Republican Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky says he was harassed at a D.C. airport and verbally assaulted. He was also physically attacked by a neighbor last year outside his home. Congressman Bacon has noticed that both sides of the aisle have seen an ‘ends justify the means’ mentality of getting what you want politically. He says there has been a lot of trashing a person’s character and a lot of yelling and screaming lately. He says those tactics are wrong and people should respect one another in a civil manner.