A man from Texas facing federal charges for his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol will also have to defend himself against a charge of threatening to “assassinate” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Garret Miller faces several criminal charges from his participation in the riot, which he wrote about extensively on his social media accounts. For example, he posted a video from the Capitol on his Twitter account with the message “From inside congress,” according to the criminal complaint.
Shorlty after the riot, Miller replied to a tweet from Ocasio-Cortez in which she expressed support for impeaching then-President Donald Trump. First he defended the action of the rioters. “We acted with honor,” he tweeted. He followed that up with another tweet: “Assassinate AOC.” Miller has been charged with threats, knowingly entering a restricted building, and violent entry, among others.
Miller’s lawyer, Clint Broden, told the Guardian that “the charges are based on an inappropriate comment made in the heat of the moment on Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter feed.” In comments cited by the New York Times, Broden also said that his client’s posts on social media “reflect very ill-considered political hyperbole in very divided times and will certainly not be repeated in the future.” Miller, Broden said, “accepts responsibility for his actions.”
Miller also used social media to express his anger at the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed a rioter. Miller said he wanted to find him and “hug his neck with a nice rope.” In a subsequent Facebook message, Miller said the officer was “not going to survive long,” adding that it was “huntin season.”
Ocasio-Cortez commented on the news of Miller’s charges, first with a bit of a joke and then a more serious reflection. “Well, you did!” tweeted the New York lawmaker on the news that Miller posted a selfie from inside the Capitol with the caption “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol.” Ocasio-Cortez then went on to note that while “you have to laugh” it’s also important to keep in mind that “they were this brazen” because “they thought they were going to succeed.”
