Assassination threat against AOC leads to arrest of Capitol rioter
A lawyer for Garrett Miller said on Saturday that he regrets his actions
The Justice Department has charged a Texas man who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots and posted death threats on social media against Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a U.S. Capitol police officer.
Garrett A. Miller of Richardson, Texas now faces five criminal charges stemming from the Capitol insurrection including trespassing and making death threats after tweeting, “Assassinate AOC.”
According to CNN, Miller, 34, said that the officer who fatally shot a Donald Trump supporter during the attack “deserves to die. So it’s hunting season.”
Read More: Extremists planned Capitol siege, used radio to track lawmakers: FBI
Clint Broden, a lawyer for Miller, said on Saturday that Miller regrets his actions and issued a statement, saying, “He did it in support of former President Trump but regrets his actions. He has the support of his family, and a lot of the comments, as viewed in context, are really sort of misguided political hyperbole. Given the political divide these days, there is a lot of hyperbole.”
The Associated Press reported that Miller shared a photo of himself in a “Make America Great Again” hat while inside the Capitol on Facebook with the caption, “Just want to incriminate myself a little lol.”
According to documents from the Department of Justice, Miller said on Instagram that he “had a rope in [his] bag on that day.”
CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider shared a clip of Ocasio-Cortez retelling the story of how she and her colleagues “narrowly escaped death” as they escaped from violent protestors in the Senate Chambers.
“I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the video on Jan. 13.
She added, saying, “It is not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated. It’s just not an exaggeration to say that at all and we were very lucky that things happened within certain minutes that allowed members to escape the Capitol unharmed.”
In a CNN interview with Chris Cuomo on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said that she and colleagues still don’t feel comfortable around certain members of Congress.
“You really think that colleagues of yours in Congress may do you dirty?” Cuomo asked.
She responded, “Yeah, well, one just tried to bring a gun on the floor of the House today — I believe it was Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland. There are separate House rules that prohibit the bringing in of firearms.”
Read More: Supporters’ words may haunt Trump at impeachment trial
Cleavon MD shared a thread of tweets regarding the individuals who participated in the riots which lead to five deaths including the death of a Capitol Police officer.
People took to Twitter to share their reactions to the assassination plans against Ocasio-Cortez. Manhattan District Attorney Eliza Orlins tweeted, “When @AOC said she believed her life was in danger, she was not being hyperbolic. She was not exaggerating. This is terrifying.”
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