A person ironically in charge of the account Human Rights Watch Watcher on Twitter received a visit from the California Highway Patrol after questioning socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
“I’m really shaken up right now,” the person tweeted. “I was just visited by two plainclothes police officers from California Highway Patrol at my home. They said they came here on behalf of the Capitol Police and accused me of threatening @AOC on Twitter yesterday. This is provably false.”
(1/X) I’m really shaken up right now. I was just visited by two plainclothes police officers from California Highway Patrol at my home. They said they came here on behalf of the Capitol Police and accused me of threatening @AOC on Twitter yesterday. This is provably false. pic.twitter.com/NGR8KViy93
— Human Rights Watch Watcher (@queeralamode) April 8, 2021
“I assume this is the tweet they are talking about, where I lightly criticized AOC for a disappointing answer in response to a question about Palestine/Israel,” the individual continued.
On April 1, @AOC did a livestream with Michael Miller, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. She was asked about “peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Her response was incredibly underwhelming, to say the very least: pic.twitter.com/qHdwTy5pVO
— Human Rights Watch Watcher (@queeralamode) April 7, 2021
The person added the following criticism:
Words AOC used:
“What”
“How”Words AOC didn’t use:
“Occupation”
“Apartheid”
“Colonization”
“Genocide”— Human Rights Watch Watcher (@queeralamode) April 7, 2021
“This is completely outrageous,” the individual continued. “I was visited by two police at my home over a harmless tweet about AOC. I felt scared, intimidated, and violated.”
“They knew my name and where I live,” the person said. “It was done on behalf of a congresswoman who advocates against police state tactics.”
“I’d really appreciate it if AOC could look into this,” the individual added. “I recognize she probably receives a lot of threats, but I shouldn’t be harassed by police for critiquing her politics. I frankly feel very unsafe in my home right now.”
A spokesperson for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said that she denies having anything to do with the chilling incident.
“A spokesperson for AOC says they did not report this post to police,” The Intercept’s Ryan Grim reported, “and have asked for answers from Capitol Police: ‘No, not at all. But when we saw his tweets last night about being visited we asked Capitol Police to look into what happened here.'”
A spokesperson for @AOC says they did not report this post to police, and have asked for answers from Capitol Police: "No, not at all. But when we saw his tweets last night about being visited we asked Capitol Police to look into what happened here." https://t.co/uFtColz8AV
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 9, 2021
“That police did show up at this person’s door over a post about AOC is confirmed,” Grim continued. “The open question is who sent them and why. If AOC was actually responsible for it and denied it, Capitol Police would eagerly out her, so her denial has serious credibility.”
That police did show up at this person's door over a post about AOC is confirmed. The open question is who sent them and why. If AOC was actually responsible for it and denied it, Capitol Police would eagerly out her, so her denial has serious credibility.
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 9, 2021
The Capitol Police denied that it was due to a complaint from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in a statement given to Grim.
“No basis to assume AOC is responsible for this without evidence, but regardless, this is a very serious incident if the Capitol Police are dispatching armed police officers to citizens’ homes in response to non-violent criticisms of a politician’s statements,” former Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald commented. “It’s repressive.”
No basis to assume AOC is responsible for this without evidence, but regardless, this is a very serious incident if the Capitol Police are dispatching armed police officers to citizens' homes in response to non-violent criticisms of a politician's statements. It's repressive. https://t.co/rVm8WJiQwA
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 9, 2021
“It’s totally unacceptable for the Capitol Police to dispatch armed officers of the state to the home of a citizen to interrogate them over tweets criticizing a politician, and since it was done in AOC‘s name, she should speak out about it, too,” Greenwald continued.
It's totally unacceptable for the Capitol Police to dispatch armed officers of the state to the home of a citizen to interrogate them over tweets criticizing a politician, and since it was done in @AOC's name, she should speak out about it, too:https://t.co/iadVlGQG9a
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 9, 2021
“The most likely suspect for this swatting, based on what I’ve been able to gather, is Twitter itself,” Grim claimed. “Twitter Media has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Did they flag this person for Capitol Police?”
The most likely suspect for this swatting, based on what I’ve been able to gather, is Twitter itself. @TwitterMedia has not responded to multiple requests for comment. Did they flag this person for Capitol Police? https://t.co/mBApdwKVmm
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 9, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez, somehow, has not tweeted since April 6th. But the incident, regardless of the source, represents an escalation in attacks on free speech.
It is important to point out that this is criticism from the left. The right to free speech exists for all Americans; it is vital that members of the radical left who are comfortable with the suppression of critics need to rethink their premises.
Editor’s note: The gender identity information of the individual has been removed due to conflicting information. It has been updated to reflect that ambiguity.
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OPINION: This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.