A Texas man is facing multiple criminal charges after allegedly participating in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and posting death threats against Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, and a U.S. Capitol police officer.
Ocasio-Cortez feared for her life in Capitol siege
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The Department of Justice revealed that Garret Miller faces five criminal charges, including trespassing and making death threats.
Using the initials widely used to refer to the New York Democrat, Miller tweeted “assassinate AOC” hours after he posted pictures of himself storming the Capitol. That tweet was in response to one in which Ocasio-Cortez called for President Donald Trump to be impeached, which he was a week later on a charge of inciting the mob of his supporters.
According to the criminal complaint, Miller was particularly incensed by the fatal shooting of one of those supporters, Ashli Babbitt, during the attack. On Jan. 10, Miller is alleged to have threatened the Capitol Police officer who shot Babbitt, saying on Instagram he was going to “hug his neck with a nice rope.” Six days later, he said the officer deserved to die and that it was “huntin season.”
The FBI linked Miller to the attack on the Capitol through a video posted by Twitter user @garretamiller that was captioned “From inside congress” and was filmed inside the Capitol rotunda. The Twitter account was registered under a cell phone number belonging to Miller, a subpoena for AT&T revealed. The FBI also found several posts relating to the attack on Miller’s Facebook account.
“I am about to drive across the country for this trump s—,” Miller wrote in a Jan. 2 post. “Some crazy s— going to happen this week. Dollar might collapse … civil war could start … not sure what to do in DC.”
The complaint also stated that Miller posted a photo of himself and another rioter inside the Capitol on Facebook and was seen on surveillance video from inside the rotunda.
In response to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet saying to “impeach” Trump, Miller claimed, “We acted with honor” and in another post he claimed the crowd had been “gentle.” But video of the attack has revealed violent attacks on police officers, one of whom died as after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by one of the rioters.
According to the criminal complaint, Miller later said on Instagram that he had a rope in his bag when he entered the Capitol. And in another post, he said, “next time we bring the guns.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attends a House Oversight Committee hearing on high prescription drugs prices shortly after her private meeting with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 26, 2019. The high-profile freshman and the veteran Pelosi have been critical of one another recently.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is escorted back to her vehicle after speaking at the Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas about what she saw at the area border patrol facilities on July 1, 2019
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks during a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee June 26, 2019 on Capitol Hill. The committee has voted to subpoena Conway after she failed to appear at a hearing focusing on “Violations of the Hatch Act Under the Trump Administration.”
From left, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., far right, listen as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., center, joins them in a call for legislation to cancel all student debt, at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2019.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., takes part in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, June 9, 2019, in New York.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., waits on a table at the Queensboro Restaurant, May 31, 2019 in the Queens borough of New York City. Ocasio-Cortez participated in an event to raise awareness for the One Fair Wage campaign, which calls to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to a full minimum wage at the federal level.
Michael Cohen, right, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, walks past committee member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., center, during a break in Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 27, 2019.
A mural depicting the face of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is displayed on a wall in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, Feb. 19, 2019 in New York City. Street artist Lexi Bella painted the mural of the young New York Congresswoman, who represents portions of The Bronx and Queens.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sheds a tear during a press conference calling on Congress to cut funding for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and to defund border detention facilities, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Feb. 7, 2019.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Congresswomen wear white as they listen as President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address from the House chamber of the United States Capitol in Washington on Feb. 5, 2019.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (C) join their fellow House Democratic women for a portrait in front of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 4, 2019 in Washington, DC. The 116th Congress has the biggest number of female members ever while the number of Democratic women in the House has grown from 16 to 89 since 1989.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez greets House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prior to her ceremonial swearing in as a member of the 116th Congress on Jan. 3, 2019.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez takes a selfie with Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-NH, and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., on the first day of the 116th Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 3, 2019.
Newly-elected House Members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, left, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), center, and Abby Finkenauer, D-IA, right, huddle from the wind and cold as they arrive to gather at the U.S. Capitol for a class photo on Nov. 14, 2018.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives on stage to speak to her supporters during her election night party in the Queens Borough of New York on Nov. 6, 2018.
Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with reporters after her general campaign kick-off rally in the Bronx borough of New York on Sept. 22, 2018.
Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with supporters during her general campaign kick-off rally in the Bronx borough of New York on Sept. 22, 2018.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the winner of a Democratic Congressional primary in New York, greets a passerby in New York, Wednesday, June 27, 2018, the morning after she upset U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in Tuesday’s primary election.