Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., snapped at protesters outside a Brooklyn movie theater who called on the progressive lawmaker to condemn Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip as "genocide," the New York Post reported.
The confrontation, which took place around 5 p.m. ET on Monday, reportedly occurred at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema when a couple of activists harassed Ocasio-Cortez, who was with her fiancé, Riley Roberts, at the time.
The protesters griped the 34-year-old lawmaker has not publicly deemed Israel's strikes against the Palestinians "genocide," according to the Post.
"I need you to understand that this is not OK," Ocasio-Cortez told one man who held an iPhone up to her face.
"It's not OK that there's a genocide happening and you're not actively against it," he retorted.
"You're lying," Ocasio-Cortez fired back as she walked down an escalator with Roberts.
The protesters continued to follow her as she made her way to the exit, and the visibly irritated Democrat got in their faces to defend herself between sets of escalators.
Once outside, the video shows Roberts turning around to confront the agitators.
"Stop," he said, as Ocasio-Cortez walked in front of him. "OK, stop."
The Squad member went off on a rant when asked if she was afraid the video would go viral online.
"You're gonna cut it … and you're gonna clip this so that it's completely out of context," Ocasio-Cortez raged.
Though the New York congresswoman has not publicly acknowledged Israel's military operation as genocide, she suggested otherwise Monday.
"I already said that it was and y'all are just gonna pretend that it wasn't over and over again," she said, according to the Post. "It's f***** up, man," she said. "And you're not helping these people, and you're not helping them, you're not helping them."
In late January, Ocasio-Cortez ducked a question during an interview with "Meet the Press" about whether using the term "genocide" to describe the military action taking place in Gaza was going too far.
The Democratic Socialist replied that young people across the country were "appalled at the violence and the indiscriminate loss of life" and cited a recent United Nations International Court of Justice ruling that found Israel has a responsibility to prevent genocide.
After Ocasio-Cortez's confrontation Monday, an old tweet from the lawmaker resurfaced that some social media users found ironic, given the situation.
"The whole point of protesting is to make [people] uncomfortable," Ocasio-Cortez 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."
Nicole Wells ✉
Nicole Wells, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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