Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at protesters at a Brooklyn movie theater who demanded the lefty lawmaker call Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” which she claimed she’d already done, video of the confrontation shows.
Ocasio-Cortez was with her fiancé Riley Roberts when she lost her cool and dropped an f-bomb as a couple of protesters badgered her at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema around 5 p.m. Monday.
The protesters complained that Ocasio-Cortez, 34, hasn’t publicly called Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian territory a “genocide” as they accosted her inside the downtown Brooklyn theater, according to the footage.
“I need you to understand that this is not OK,” she told one male protester who held an iPhone near her face.
“It’s not OK that there’s a genocide happening and you’re not actively against it,” the protester shot back.
“You’re lying,” Ocasio-Cortez countered as she walked down an escalator with her beau.
The protesters continued to trail behind the Democrat, who was visibly aggravated as she made her way toward the exit. Between sets of escalators, Ocasio-Cortez got in the face of the protesters to again defend herself before walking away.
The video then cuts to everyone going outside, with Roberts turning around to confront the rabble rousers.
“Stop,” he said as Ocasio-Cortez walked ahead of him. “OK, stop.”
The lawmaker then went on a tirade when she was asked if she was afraid the video clip would go viral.
“You’re gonna cut it … and you’re gonna clip this so that it’s completely out of context,” Ocasio-Cortez fumed.
The congresswoman has not publicly called Israel’s retaliatory bombardment in Gaza a genocide, but on Monday she suggested otherwise.
“I already said that it was and y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t over and over again. It’s f–ked up, man,” she railed. “And you’re not helping these people, and you’re not helping them, you’re not helping them.”
The video ended as the protesters continued to berate Ocasio-Cortez as she walked ahead with Roberts.
The Post has sought comment from the congresswoman’s office and her campaign.
Ocasio-Cortez did not directly call Israel’s military action a genocide during a “Meet the Press” interview in late January as she sidestepped a question about whether using the term was going overboard.
“Some of your colleagues have accused the president of supporting genocide, including Rashida Tlaib. Do you agree with that word, genocide, that the president’s been supporting a genocide, or does that go too far?” host Kristen Welker asked her during the interview.
Ocasio-Cortez replied that the young people throughout the country were “appalled at the violence and the indiscriminate loss of life.” She cited a recent United Nations’ International Court of Justice decision that stated Israel has a responsibility to prevent a genocide.
“They are still determining whether it’s a genocide. Do you think that term is responsible given it’s still under investigation?” Welker pressed.
“I believe that they are. They’re still determining it. But in the interim ruling, the fact that they said there’s a responsibility to prevent it, the fact that this word is even in play, the fact that this word is even in our discourse, I think, demonstrates the mass inhumanity that Gazans are facing,” the congresswoman replied.
Following Monday’s confrontation an old tweet resurfaced online where Ocasio-Cortez said protesting was supposed to make people “uncomfortable,” with some social media users calling the past message ironic.
“The whole point of protesting is to make [people] uncomfortable,” she tweeted in December 2020. “Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows. To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable… that’s the point.”
The progressive firebrand has called for a cease-fire in Gaza while criticizing Israel numerous times since Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
She also condemned Hamas in the “strongest possible terms” shortly after the bloody attack.
About 30,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military action, Hamas-backed health officials have said.
🚨#BREAKING: A Handful of Protesters Chase United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out of a Movie Theater ⁰⁰📌#Brooklyn | #NewYork⁰⁰Watch as a handful of protesters chase United States Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a movie theater in… pic.twitter.com/L3t2AaXzQE
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 5, 2024