This photo provided by the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office shows Garret Miller. Miller was arrested for allegedly participating in the attack on the United States Capitol this month and posting violent threats, including an appeal to assassinate Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Dallas County Sheriff’s Office via AP
A Texas man accused of breaking into the Capitol and threatening to rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Monday that she was effectively following orders from then President Donald Trump when he joined a crowd that invaded Congress on January 6.
Garret Miller also apologized to Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., for writing “Assassinate AOC” in a Twitter post. He said he would be willing to testify in Congress or at a riot trial.
Miller, 34, also threatened on a social media account a Capitol police officer who fatally shot a rowdy colleague, saying he planned to “hug his neck with a nice rope,” officials said.
The Richardson resident’s apology came when a federal judge in Dallas ordered him to be detained without bail until trial, after discovering he was a danger to the community and a risk of escape, according to the Prosecutor’s Office from the USA to the North Texas District.
MIller is one of dozens of people accused of participating in the riot, which began shortly after Trump held a rally outside the White House, where he asked supporters to pressure Congress to reject Joe Biden’s election as president.
In a statement released by defense attorney Clinton Broden, Miller said he was motivated by Trump’s false claims about being cheated in re-election for electoral fraud and said, “I am ashamed of my comments.”
“I was in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, because I believed I was following the instructions of former President Trump and he was my president and commander in chief. His statements also made me believe that the election was stolen from him “Said Miller.
“However, I fully recognize that Joe Biden is now the president of the United States and that the election is over. Donald Trump is no longer president and I would have no reason to continue to follow his example.”
“Although I never intended to harm Congressman Ocasio-Cortez or harm any member of the Capitol police force, I recognize that my social media posts were completely inappropriate. They were made at a time when Donald Trump made me believe that an American election was stolen, “he said.
Miller said, “I want to apologize publicly to Congressman Ocasio-Cortez and the Capitol police officers. I have always supported law enforcement and am ashamed of my comments.”
He also said in the statement that he was not armed when he entered the Capitol and remained at his roundabout.
He said he left Washington and returned to Texas “immediately after President Trump asked us to come home.”
Miller, who was arrested last Wednesday, said that “until very recently” he had not been interested or involved in politics.
“However, what Donald Trump had said about the election really affected me and I felt I should support him. Even so, I recognize that I am solely responsible for my actions and that there is no excuse for what I did,” he added.
“I come from a good and supportive family. My parents and siblings do not deserve the pain I caused them. I accept full responsibility for my actions and am prepared to testify in any trial or process in Congress,” said Miller.
Miller is accused in the United States District Court in Washington, DC of: intentionally entering or staying in any buildings or restricted areas without legal authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds; obstruct or prevent any official procedure; certain acts during civil disorder and threats in interstate commerce.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Miller’s accusation of threatening her, writing on Twitter: “On the one hand, you have to laugh and on the other hand, to know that the reason they are so brazen is because they thought they would succeed.”
Ocasio-Cortez said he feared for his life during the riot and that members of Congress were “almost murdered”.
“I didn’t know if I would make it to the end of that day alive, and not just in a general sense, but also in a very, very specific sense,” she said in an Instagram Live video on Jan. 12, without giving further details.
Trump was accused by the House of Representatives for inciting the riot. He is due to go on trial next month in the Senate, where he may be banned from being president again.