Capitol rioter who allegedly tweeted he wanted to 'assassinate' Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faces 5 charges
A man who allegedly made an online threat to "assassinate" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., faces five charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol insurrection, authorities said.
Garret Miller was arrested Wednesday in Texas. His charges include threats and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A detention hearing is scheduled for Jan. 25.
Newly released court documents chronicle a series of social media posts Miller allegedly made on Jan. 6 and in the days following the riot, including threats to the Democratic lawmaker, a regular target of conservatives, and a U.S. Capitol Police officer.
"Assassinate AOC," Miller tweeted on Jan. 6 in response to a call by Ocasio-Cortez to impeach former President Donald Trump, according to the criminal complaint.
In a Facebook discussion on Jan. 10 about the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot a rioter, Miller allegedly said, "We going to get a hold of [the USCP officer] and hug his neck with a nice rope[.]"
On Jan. 11, Miller allegedly posted to Facebook a selfie of himself inside the Capitol Rotunda. When someone commented on the post, "bro you got in?! Nice!," Miller replied, "just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol," according to the affidavit.
A few days after the siege on the Capitol, Miller "admitted on Instagram that he 'had a rope in [his] bag on that day,'" according to the affidavit.
Miller's Twitter account has been suspended and his Facebook page has been deleted. The FBI affidavit included screengrabs of social media posts they attributed to Miller and stills of surveillance footage that allegedly placed him in the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
In a statement to ABC News, Miller's attorney said that his client "regrets the acts he took in a misguided effort to show his support for former President Trump."
"His social media comments reflect very ill-considered political hyperbole in very divided times and will certainly not be repeated in the future," attorney Clint Broden said in the statement. "He accepts responsibility for his actions."
In response to news of Miller's arrest, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, "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."
Ocasio-Cortez spoke of the threat to representatives in an Instagram livestream Jan. 12, saying she "had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die."
"Perhaps my colleagues were not fully present for the events on Wednesday, but half of -- we came close to half of the House nearly dying on Wednesday," Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" on Jan. 10.
