The US Justice Department has revealed charges against a Texas man who allegedly stormed the US Capitol on 6 January and threatened on social media to kill Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Photo: AFP
Prosecutors asked a judge on Friday to keep the man, Garret Miller, in jail ahead of a court appearance, according to court records.
On Wednesday they revealed five criminal charges against Miller in the District Court of the District of Columbia, including for making death threats and trespassing offenses.
In a court filing prosecutors said social media images were posted by Miller and appeared to announce his trip to the Capitol and threaten the life of Ocasio-Cortez, as well as a Capitol Police officer.
Miller made numerous threats online, they said, including one 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 in the week after the invasion of the Capitol buildings.
Ocasio-Cortez also said she experienced "a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die" on 6 January, adding that she couldn't 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."
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Photo: AFP
Miller was arrested on Wednesday and a detention hearing is planned for Monday.
A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment.
-Reuters