Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has been mocked and criticized by some Republicans and conservatives for a vivid story she told on Instagram Live on Monday about her experiences and emotions during the January 6 Capitol uprising.
We reviewed three of her critics’ attacks. One was false, one was missing the essential context and one was misleading.
We also examined two of the claims Ocasio-Cortez himself made about the Capitol uprising. One was unproven and one was fake.
The 2018 photos of Ocasio-Cortez
Questioning Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram comments about fears for her life during the uprising, Conservative commentator and activist Candace Owens tweeted On Wednesday, people “should never forget the time @AOC hosted a photo shoot in white at a parking lot to spread lies about immigrant children in cages.”
Facts first: Owens’ false allegations were unleash in 2019, when they were made by others. Ocasio-Cortez did not present a mock photo shoot. She was photographed by photojournalists as she participated in 2018 protest on a road outside a tent city shelter in Texas used to detain migrant children, including some separated the Trump administration from their parents. While the protesters, many of whom wore white, were not allowed to walk up to the tents at the Tornillo facility, it is inaccurate to say they were ‘in a parking lot’.
Ocasio-Cortez made the trip to Texas before becoming a national name by defeating a high-ranking sitting congressman in a Democratic primary in New York. The photos of Ocasio-Cortez that appeared emotional during the protest only went viral a year later when photojournalist Ivan Pierre Aguirre from Texas’ tweeted some of his shots of his work that day.
“The fact that (Owens) says that it was a phased photo session upsets me because it questions me as a professional photojournalist. To this day, I have never spoken to AOC. I did not speak to her that day or before the photos. “I just saw it for a moment and started taking pictures like I was wired,” Aguirre told CNN in an email Thursday.
Aguirre also stressed that they are not standing next to a ‘parking lot’. Another photojournalist told the same thing in 2019 to PolitiFact.
Ocasio-Cortez’s location
Owens is not the only conservative media figure to mock or challenge Ocasio-Cortez’s mockery of her life during the uprising. Some critics remarked that Ocasio-Cortez was in her office in the Cannon House office building at the time, not in the Capitol itself.
Facts first: These claims of Ocasio-Cortez critics leave out the key context. First, the Cannon Building is connected to the Capitol by subway looppad which is frequently used by legislators, assistants, journalists and others; the Cannon Building is considered part of the Capitol Complex. Second, Ocasio-Cortez did not deceive about where she was during the uprising; its explicit explain on Instagram Live that her office is in a building near the Capitol.
Third, the Capitol Police Gave order people to evacuate the Cannon Building amid the Capitol attack. (The clear case was announced less than an hour after the evacuation announcement.)
Fourth, a pipe bomb was found that day outside the office of the Republican National Committee, which is just down the street from the Cannon building. Google Maps sets the walking distance between the two buildings at 260 feet.
“While the Capitol complex was being stormed and people were being killed, none of us knew at the time what areas were being compromised,” Ocasio-Cortez said. tweeted Thursday in response to criticism from Republican Rep Nancy Mace.
What Ocasio-Cortez said
Mace, a South Carolina congressman, appears to be disputing Ocasio-Cortez’s allegations about what happened at the Cannon building. “I’m two doors lower than @aoc and no insurgents stormed our corridor …” Mace tweeted Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez’s reaction to Mace noted that Mace told a newspaper in January that she had blocked herself in her office during her attack.
Mace toe reacted: “* FACT CHECK * I did not discount your fears once. We were all terrified that day. I explain the fact that rebels were never in our corridor … because they were not. I deal with facts. Unlike you, apparently. ‘
Facts first: MACE’s “FACT CHECK” is misleading. Ocasio-Cortez never said insurgents were in their corridor. In Ocasio-Cortez’s account of the story on Instagram, she rather said that day she was scared of a man in her office who she thought was a riot but turned out to be a Capitol police officer. She said the officer did not initially identify himself as a member of law enforcement, and shouted, “Where is she?” and looked at her ‘with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility’.
Mace might have been confused because some journalists’ initial tweets about Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram story did not correctly convey what Ocasio-Cortez said about the police officer she thought was a riotous person. But there is no basis to suggest that Ocasio-Cortez claimed that there was a real riot in the Cannon building near her. (Ocasio-Cortez’s allegations about the officer’s behavior have not been confirmed.)
The bombs
While rejecting the accusation of exaggerating the threat to her safety, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Wednesday, “The bombs planted by Trump supporters also surrounded our offices.”
Facts first: The allegation that Trump supporters planted the bombs has not been proven. We do not yet know the identity or motivation of the person who is the FBI believe placed pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee the night before the uprising. The FBI is still searching for information about a suspect whose appearance was darken by a face mask and sweatshirt with hood.
Trump supporters were responsible for the Capitol uprising, so Ocasio-Cortez has a clear basis for assuming that Trump supporters were also responsible for the bombings. But this is indeed an assumption at this stage. (Ocasio-Cortez staff did not respond to our request for comment on this article.)
Ted Cruz’s role
Senator Ted Cruz tweeted last week, he agreed to an Ocasio-Cortez tweet criticizing the Robinhood stock trading firm and pushing the idea of a hearing on the congressional committee. Ocasio-Cortez reacted‘I would like to work with the Republicans on this issue where there is a common issue, but you had me killed almost 3 weeks ago so you can speak out. I’m happy to work with almost any other GOP that is not trying to kill me. If you want to help in the meantime, thank you. ‘
Facts first: There is no evidence to support the accusation that Cruz was killing Ocasio-Cortez. Although Ocasio-Cortez can make a reasonable argument that the actions of the Republican of Texas fueled the violent uprising, it is different from saying that he tried to bring about the assassination of any member of Congress. Cruz did not advocate violence against Ocasio-Cortez, much less for her murder.
There is a distinction between Ocasio-Cortez’s two accusations in the tweet.
Her claim that Cruz ‘almost killed me’ can perhaps be defended as a subjective argument about the impact of Cruz’s behavior, regardless of his intentions. Ocasio-Cortez does not exaggerate when she suggests that the violent mob poses a threat to her life; at least one member of the mob allegedly demanded that she be killed. And that’s fair enough to argue, as Ocasio-Cortez spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said in an email to CNN on Thursday, that Cruz’s words definitely “encouraged” the mob. Cruz, referring to ‘unprecedented allegations of voter fraud’, was a leader in trying to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s completely legitimate victory.
But it is still unfounded to claim that Cruz tried to kill Ocasio-Cortez. There is just no evidence that he harmed her physically.
“Sen. Cruz’s plea for a debate in the world’s largest advisory body is not an assassination attempt, ‘Cruz spokeswoman Maria Jeffrey Reynolds told CNN in an email on Thursday.
Hitt said Ocasio-Cortez stands by her tweet as a reasonable remark. Hitt argued that since Cruz maintained his infectious false allegations about the election, ‘even after it was clear that the mob had violent intentions’ and did not try to intervene to prevent the violence, ‘he’ bears direct responsibility for the killings. and attempted murders that day. To relieve him of intent is to indicate that he had no knowledge that this mob could be violent, practicing more than just credibility. ”
We say that there is a significant difference between claiming that Cruz was responsible for the violence (again subjective) and claiming that he actually sought the death of Ocasio-Cortez (again groundless).