AOC Says She Woke Up to Stacks of Photos From FBI Showing 'People Who Want to Kill' Her

https://www.newsweek.com/aoc-says-she-woke-stacks-photos-fbi-showing-people-who-want-kill-her-1542820

Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez said she used to wake up to a stack of photos from Capitol police or the FBI of people threatening to kill her as abuse quickly became the norm for her and those in her life.

"I used to wake up in the morning and literally get a stack of pictures that were forwarded by Capitol police or FBI. Like, 'These are the people who want to kill you today,' " AOC told Vanity Fair this week.

The hate extended to her family, including her brother, Gabriel, who would receive calls from the FBI warning him not to open his mail due to bomb threats, according to the publication. Other targets of abuse include the designer of her Cesar Chavez–inspired campaign posters, who would receive death threats, and her former dean at Boston University, who would regularly receive emails calling him the n-word.

She also noted that her offices would be flooded with calls, voicemails and emails from Trump supporters repeating any recent jabs against her by President Donald Trump, from calling her a "poor student" to a "wack job."

The threats go far beyond just leaving a voicemail or commenting online. A month into her first term in the House of Representatives in 2019, a Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist, Lt. Christopher Hasson, was arrested in Maryland with a stockpile of weapons as part of a plot to kill Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among others. Hasson was sentenced to 13 years in prison earlier this year after pleading guilty to federal gun and drug charges.