The man’s lawyer said his actions were a “wrong effort” to support Trump.
A man who allegedly made an online threat to “murder” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., faces five charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol insurrection, according to authorities.
Garret Miller was arrested Wednesday in Texas. His charges include threats and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. An arrest hearing is scheduled for January 25.
Recently released court documents recount a series of posts on social media that Miller allegedly made on Jan. 6 and the days following the riot, including threats to the Democratic lawmaker, a regular target of conservatives and a police officer from the U.S. United States Capitol.
“AOC killer,” Miller tweeted Jan. 6 in response to a call from Ocasio-Cortez to charge former President Donald Trump, according to the criminal complaint.
In a Facebook post on Jan. 10 about the Capitol police officer who fatally shot a riot police, Miller allegedly said, “Let’s catch [the USCP officer] and hugs his neck with a nice rope[.]”
On January 11, Miller allegedly posted a selfie of himself at the Capitol Roundabout on Facebook. When someone commented on the message, “Friar, did you come in ?! Very well!” Miller replied, “I just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol,” according to the affidavit.
A few days after the siege of the Capitol, Miller “admitted on Instagram that he had” a rope [his] that day, “according to the affidavit.
Miller’s Twitter account has been suspended and his Facebook page has been deleted. The FBI affidavit included drafts of social media posts attributed to Miller and surveillance footage that allegedly placed him in the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
In a statement to ABC News, Miller’s lawyer said his client “regrets the acts he did in a misguided effort to show his support for former President Trump.”
“His comments on social media reflect a very ill-considered political hyperbole in very divided times and are sure not to be repeated in the future,” lawyer Clint Broden said in the statement. “He accepts responsibility for his actions.”
In response to news of Miller’s arrest, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “On the one hand, you have to laugh and, on the other, know that the reason they were so brazen is because they thought they would succeed.”
Ocasio-Cortez spoke of the threat to representatives on a live Instagram broadcast on Jan. 12, saying he “had a very close encounter where he thought he would die.”
“Maybe my colleagues weren’t fully present at Wednesday’s events, but half of, we approached half of the House almost dying on Wednesday,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview this week with George Stephanopoulos “on January 10.