Protesters who support U.S. President Donald Trump break into the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
A Dallas area man who joined a violent mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol earlier this month was accused of threatening Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a death threat in a social media post.
Garret Miller, 34, of Richardson, Texas, was arrested earlier this week on several charges related to the Capitol riot.
Miller’s attorney, Clinton Broden, told CNBC that a threat charge was added to his client’s charges on Tuesday, the day before his arrest in Richardson. The increased fee came relatively soon after the first complaint was filed in federal court in Washington, DC, Broden said.
The other charges include entering or leaving buildings or land without proper authorization; forced entry and disorderly behavior for Capitol reasons; Obstruction or obstruction of an official process and certain acts during a civil incident.
The charges against Miller are based on prosecutors’ allegations that he threatened Rep. Ocasio Cortez, DN.Y., across state lines on social media. The maximum sentence is five years in prison.
Miller wrote “Assassinate AOC” in a Twitter post, according to the complaint. Miller also reportedly wrote about entering the Capitol building on his Instagram account, admitting that he “had a rope in hand” [his] Bag that day. “
Miller also threatened a Capitol Police officer who shot and killed a woman who tried to break through the Capitol during the riot. “We will take care of it [the USCP officer] and hug his neck with a nice rope[.]”Said Miller, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Miller regrets the measures he has taken to demonstrate his support for former President Trump,” said Broden. “He has the full support of his family and has always been a law-abiding citizen.”
“His social media comments reflect a very ill-considered political exaggeration in very divided times and will certainly not be repeated in the future,” Broden continued. “He’s looking forward to leaving it all behind.”
Broden added that he doesn’t think there is any evidence that Miller tried to carry out the threats.
Miller will appear for a hearing in federal court in Dallas on Monday. Prosecutors have said they want him to be detained pending trial, but Broden said he would advocate for Miller’s conditional release pending trial in Washington.
Responding to the complaint in which Miller allegedly bragged about his role in the riot online, Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a tweet: “On the one hand, you have to laugh and, on the other, you have to know that the reason they were so bold is that they thought it would succeed. “
Ocasio-Cortez previously said she feared for her life during the uprising and that members of Congress were “almost murdered”.
“I didn’t know if I would make it to the end of this day alive, not just in a general sense, but also in a very, very specific sense,” said the Democratic representative in a live Instagram video on January 1st. 12 without explaining the details.
