A Trump supporter who broke into the Capitol on January 6 threatened on social media to assassinate Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that day and also threatened the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot a woman while she tried to enter the Speaker’s Lobby, said federal prosecutors.
The man, Garret Miller, 34, of Richardson, Texas, was arrested on Wednesday and accused of, among other things, threats, intentionally entering a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, according to a criminal complaint.
Surveillance video from inside the Capitol, a selfie and a video posted by Mr. Miller and comments he made on social media showed that he was part of a crowd that pushed police to enter the Capitol, disturbing Congress while certifying the loss from President Donald J. Trump to Joseph R. Biden Jr., states the complaint.
In one instance, Mr. Miller posted a photo of himself inside the Capitol, states the complaint, prompting someone on Facebook to comment: “bro, did you come in ?! Nice! “Mr. Miller replied,” Just wanted to frame me a little, lol “.
Miller also threatened Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, after she wrote “Impeach” on Twitter on January 6, the complaint said. Miller responded with his own tweet that said, “Assassin AOC,” said the FBI.
In another tweet for Ocasio-Cortez, Miller said “we acted with honor”, “we were not armed” and we were “kind to the police”, said the FBI.
The criminal complaint included screenshots of Mr. Miller’s tweets.
Prosecutors said Miller also threatened the Capitol cop who fatally shot Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt as she poked her head through the frame of a broken window that led to the speaker’s lounge.
Mr Miller referred to Mrs. Babbitt as his “sister in battle” and, referring to the officer who shot her, said he “would hug her neck with a beautiful rope”, according to messages he wrote on social media , states the complaint.
Writing on Facebook on January 16, Miller said the policeman “would not survive long” and said that “millions” of people agreed with him that the policeman deserved to “die”, the complaint said.
A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Mr. Miller said, “We have no comments at the moment.”
Miller’s lawyer, F. Clinton Broden, said that “his client’s comments on social media reflect a poorly thought-out political hyperbole in very divided times and will certainly not be repeated in the future.”
“He accepts responsibility for his actions,” he said.
He said Miller had not yet been asked to file an argument and that his detention hearing was scheduled for Monday.
“Sir. Miller regrets the acts he performed in a wrong effort to show his support for former President Trump,” said Broden. “He has the full support of his family and has always been a law-abiding citizen.”
Prerak Shah, the acting attorney general for the Northern Texas District, said on Twitter that Mr. Miller “allegedly bragged about breaking into the Capitol, called for the murder of a Congresswoman and threatened to strangle an @CapitolPolice officer.”
The Justice Department “will not tolerate this vitriolic violence,” he said. “The mob rule is not going to win.”
A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a message on Saturday night. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said earlier that she frequently receives death threats.
She called the siege of the Capitol “an extremely traumatic event” and said that many members of Congress had “narrowly escaped death” that day.
Seamus Hughes contributed reports.