Department of Justice
- A Texas man charged in the US Capitol riot tweeted “Assassinate AOC” the day of the attack.
- In a criminal complaint, the FBI says Garret Miller made multiple threats of violence online.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she thought she was going to die during the insurrection.
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A Texas man who is facing charges in the Capitol riot posted violent threats on social media, according to a criminal complaint by the Justice Department.
“Assassinate AOC,” read one of Garret Miller’s tweets from January 6, in reference to Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Miller, who is reportedly from Dallas County, was arrested Wednesday and faces five charges that include unlawful entry, violent entry, and threats.
The FBI complaint outlines multiple posts Miller allegedly shared on his various social media accounts, including one video he posted on Twitter from inside the US Capitol Rotunda captioned, “From inside congress.”
In another tweet on January 6, Miller said, “We acted with honor and we where not armed,” according to the complaint. “We where gentle with the police. They murdered a child,” purportedly in reference to Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran who was shot dead by police while participating in the riot.
While discussing Babbitt's death days after the attack, the complaint says Miller wrote, "We going to get a hold of [the USCP officer] and hug his neck with a nice rope," in reference the US Capitol Police Officer who shot her.
In another discussion on Facebook, he allegedly said the officer is "not going to survive long" and that "millions" of people agree he deserves to die, calling it "huntin season."
Ocasio-Cortez, the subject of Miller's assassination call, tweeted about Miller's arrest, and his threats of violence, on Friday.
—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 22, 2021
"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.
Ocasio-Cortez previously said of the insurrection that she thought she "was going to die" during a "very close encounter."
"I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of the day alive," Ocasio-Cortez said during an Instagram livestream.
Lawmakers were successfully evacuated from the Capitol during the attack, however five people died, including Babbitt and one Capitol Police officer.