by Ben Leonard
Politico
01/23/2021 03:46 PM EST
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive and one of the most high-profile lawmakers in Congress, has said that death threats are “a normal part of [her] existence." | Alex Wong/Getty Images
A Texas man charged with illegally storming the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6. threatened to kill Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a Capitol Police officer, according to federal prosecutors.
Garret Miller, of Dallas County, Texas, posted often on social media about his involvement in the deadly riots during which insurrectionists stormed the Capitol, including sending a tweet saying “Assassinate AOC,” according to charging documents.
Miller was charged with several federal crimes and arrested Wednesday in Texas, Department of Justice filings show. He appeared in federal court in Dallas on Friday for an initial hearing and has a bail hearing Monday.
Miller allegedly posted a selfie of himself in the Capitol, to which a Facebook user said "bro you got in?! Nice!," according to charging documents.
“just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol,” Miller replied.
“Well you did!” Ocasio-Cortez clapped back at Miller on Twitter.
“On one hand you have to laugh, and on the other know that the reason they were this brazen is because they thought they were going to succeed,” she said in a subsequent tweet.
Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive and one of the most high-profile lawmakers in Congress, has said that death threats are “a normal part of [her] existence.” Ahead of the House’s vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump, the New York congresswoman said that GOP lawmakers fearing voting to impeach Trump after the riots are privileged to not face threats more often.
“I get it, but some of us just spent the last 2 years taking stances that have led to repeated attempts on our lives - for demanding guaranteed healthcare, immigrant justice, etc.,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet. “Sorry if this lacks empathy, but it’s a privilege if this is their first time. They can do one vote.”
Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection and faces a Senate trial slated for the week of Feb. 8. At a rally before the riots, Trump spoke to supporters.
“You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong,” Trump said at the time.
[President Donald Trump] We’re going to have to fight much harder and Mike Pence is going to have to come through for us. If he doesn’t, that will be a sad day for our country because you’re sworn to uphold our constitution. Now it is up to Congress to confront this egregious assault on our democracy. After this, we’re going to walk down and I’ll be there with you. We’re going to walk down. We’re going to walk down any one you want, but I think right here. We’re going walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators, and congressmen and women. We’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong...
The Republicans have to get tougher. You’re not going to have a Republican party if you don’t get tougher. They want to play so straight, they want to play so, “Sir, yes, the United States, the constitution doesn’t allow me to send them back to the States.” Well, I say, “Yes, it does because the constitution says you have to protect our country and you have to protect our constitution and you can’t vote on fraud,” and fraud breaks up everything, doesn’t it? When you catch somebody in a fraud, you’re allowed to go by very different rules. So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do...
And we fight. We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore...
So we’re going to, we’re going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, I love Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’re going to the Capitol and we’re going to try and give… The Democrats are hopeless. They’re never voting for anything, not even one vote. But we’re going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.
-- Donald Trump Speech "Save America" Rally Transcript, by President Donald Trump
Trump has defended his comments as "totally appropriate." Just 27 percent of respondents in a recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll said Trump acted “appropriately” and that the Senate should not remove him from office.
Miller’s arrest comes as federal officials fear hundreds of cases of rioters being charged could clog the court system, leaving them weighing potentially not charging some Capitol rioters to ease the burden, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
AMY GOODMAN: Reverend Barber, the Senate is receiving the article of impeachment against Donald Trump. The trial will begin the week of February 8th. Your thoughts on what you believe justice would look like for President Trump, of course, charged with inciting the insurrection of neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, white supremacists on January 6th?
REV. WILLIAM BARBER II: I have a number of opinions on that, Amy. You know, we had six weeks of nonviolent civil disobedience in the capital, just trying to deliver to McConnell, because he wouldn’t meet with us like other — like Nancy Pelosi and others. Six weeks, we tried to deliver a position, a policy agenda, for poor and low-wealth people, tried to meet with him. And when we went to the offices to try to meet with him and deliver, we were arrested for praying. We were arrested and charged and put in handcuffs in that same Capitol building. I was arrested with clergy and poor and low-wealth people, in those same areas, for praying. So there’s no way in the world you’re going to arrest nonviolent protesters — in fact, when we came, the police were already there. They had the long guns. They had the zip ties. They met us. When we tried to go on the plaza just to pray at the steps — not to go up the steps, but pray at the steps — hundreds of us were arrested. In fact, over 5,000 people were arrested over six weeks across this nation, from ... May of 2018 to June of 2018.
-- Rev. William Barber Says Biden Admin Must Not Sacrifice Racial & Economic Justice for False Unity, by Amy Goodman
The FBI got a tip from law enforcement about Miller posting a video from inside the Capitol on Twitter. On Jan. 2, he said on Facebook that he was going to drive cross-country "for this trump sh-t," according to charging documents.
“civil war could start . . . not sure what to do in DC,” he said in a Facebook post Jan. 2.
He posted a photo of himself on Facebook wearing a Make America Great Again hat on Jan. 11 from inside the Capitol, according to the filings. In a tweet Jan. 6, Miller said "next time we bring the guns."
On social media, Miller also discussed a woman who was shot by Capitol police on Jan. 6, saying Jan. 10 that “We going to get a hold of” the officer and “hug his neck with a nice rope,” according to the filings.
“On Jan. 6, he also tweeted that "we acted with honor and we where [sic] not armed. We where [sic] gentle with the police” in a reply to Ocasio-Cortez.
He also said on Instagram that he had a rope in his bag on the day of the Capitol riots.
“We stormed the capital [sic] as peacefully as we could without weapons ... The congress building,” Miller wrote on his Instagram, according to the documents.