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US man 'threatened assassination' of AOC

Christopher BingAAP
A Texas man allegedly threatened to kill US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Camera IconA Texas man allegedly threatened to kill US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The US Justice Department has revealed charges against a Texas man who allegedly stormed the US Capitol on January 6 and threatened on social media to kill Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Prosecutors on Friday asked a judge to keep Garret Miller in jail ahead of a court appearance, according to court records.

They revealed five criminal charges in the US District Court of the District of Columbia against Miller, including for making death threats and trespassing offences.

Images of social media posts allegedly authored by Miller, which appear to announce his trip to the Capitol and threaten the life of Ocasio-Cortez as well as a Capitol Police officer, are cited in the court filing.

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Prosecutors said Miller made numerous threatening remarks online, including one instance in which he commented "next time we bring the guns" on a Twitter video showing rioters exiting a Capitol building.

As rioters broke into the Capitol, Ocasio-Cortez worried that her colleagues in Congress might divulge her location to the mob, putting her at risk for kidnapping or worse, according to an Instagram Live video she recorded on January 12.

Ocasio-Cortez also said she experienced "a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die" on January 6, adding that she could not get into specifics for security reasons, according to a Washington Post account of the video.

"I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive," she said.

A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment.

Miller was arrested on Wednesday and a detention hearing is planned for Monday.

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