A man has been charged for allegedly taking part in the Capitol building insurrection and threatening to kill Bronx/Queens Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on social media.
The FBI charged Garret Miller of Texas with breaking into a restricted building, disorderly conduct, and obstructing an official proceeding on January 6th when Congress convened to certify the election of now President Joe Biden. He was also charged with threatening to kill Ocasio-Cortez in a tweet posted that same day.
In an 11-page complaint, the FBI said Miller had allegedly incriminated himself multiple times with photos showing himself inside the Capitol building on January 6th as a horde of pro-Trump supporters stormed the building. Miller also appeared to have taken a selfie with another infiltrator from inside the rotunda. The image was posted onto Facebook, where one commenter said, "bro you got in?! Nice!," to which Miller then allegedly wrote "just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol."
The FBI also highlighted several surveillance videos taken from inside the rotunda from multiple views that allegedly show Miller inside the building.
The insurrection led Ocasio-Cortez to tweet "impeach," resulting in a response from Miller's account reading, "Assassinate AOC."
FBI found more social media posts allegedly written by Miller, including a Facebook post on January 2nd that read, "Some crazy shit going to happen this week. Dollar might collapse. . . . civil war could start . . . not sure what to do in DC.” The next day, Miller allegedly wrote he was bringing with him “a grappling hook and rope and a level 3 vest. Helmets mouth guard and bump cap."
On Friday, following Miller's arrest, Ocasio-Cortez responded to his arrest saying he certainly incriminated himself.
Miller's lawyer, Clint Broden, told the Guardian on Saturday that the charges are "based on an inappropriate comment made in the heat of the moment on Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter feed.”
Scores of rioters have been arrested since the insurrection took place, including those in the New York area. They include Dominic Pezzola of Rochester, New York, Aaron Mostofsky, the son of a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, and a former New York City Sanitation worker.
Miller's charge comes as federal authorities are reportedly mulling whether to decline charging some of the hundreds of people arrested during the siege.
