A Donald Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 threatened on social media to assassinate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that day and also threatened the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot a woman as she tried to enter the Speaker’s Lobby, federal prosecutors said.
The man, Garret Miller, 34, of Richardson, Texas, was arrested Wednesday and charged with, among other things, threats, knowingly 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 Miller and comments he made on social media showed that he had been part of a crowd that had pushed past the police to enter the Capitol, disrupting Congress as it was certifying Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, the complaint states.
In one instance, Miller posted a photo of himself inside the Capitol, the complaint states, prompting someone on Facebook to comment: “bro you got in?! Nice!” Miller replied, “just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol.”
Miller also threatened Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., after she wrote “Impeach” on Twitter on Jan. 6, the complaint states. Miller responded with his own tweet that said, “Assassinate AOC,” the FBI said.
In another tweet to Ocasio-Cortez, Miller said that “we acted with honor,” were “not armed” and had been “gentle with the police,” the FBI said.
The criminal complaint included screenshots of Miller’s tweets.
Prosecutors said Miller had also threatened the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt, a Trump supporter, as she stuck her head through the frame of a broken window leading to the Speaker’s Lobby.
Miller referred to Babbitt as his “sister in battle” and, referring to the officer who shot her, said he would “hug his neck with a nice rope,” according to messages he wrote on social media, the complaint states.
Writing on Facebook on Jan. 16, Miller said the officer was “not going to survive long,” and he claimed that “millions” of people agreed with him that the officer deserved “to die,” the complaint said.
A man who answered the phone at a number listed for Miller said, “We have no comment at this time.”
Miller’s lawyer, F. Clinton Broden, said his client’s “social media comments reflect very ill-considered 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 that Miller had not been asked to enter a plea yet and that his detention hearing was set for Monday.
“Mr. Miller regrets the acts he took in a misguided effort to show his support for former President Trump,” Broden said. “He has the full support of his family and has always been a law-abiding citizen.”
Prerak Shah, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said on Twitter that Miller had “allegedly bragged about storming the Capitol, called for the assassination of a congresswoman, and threatened to strangle a @CapitolPolice officer.”
The Justice Department “will not stand for this vitriolic violence,” he said. “Mob rule will not win the day.”
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a message Saturday night. Ocasio-Cortez has said previously that she often receives death threats.
She has called the siege on the Capitol “an extremely traumatizing event” and said that many members of Congress had “nearly and narrowly escaped death” that day.