(Headline USA) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed she wasn’t pretending to be handcuffed at a pro-abortion protest on Tuesday, despite video evidence to the contrary.
Ocasio–Cortez was one of several leftist lawmakers involved in a pro-abortion demonstration outside the Supreme Court that began to block traffic.
She was escorted away from the protest by a Capitol Police officer along with Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., at which point AOC acted like she was being arrested.
She put her hands behind her back—only to raise her fist to her supporters looking on and quickly put it back down behind her back.
According to Becker News, evidence suggested that Omar and other lawmakers might also have staged their arrests, contrary to widespread media reports.
Ocasio-Cortez was quickly blasted for the stunt.
However, she insisted that she was not pretending to be handcuffed but protecting herself from potential violence from the police officer escorting her.
“Putting your hands behind your back is a best practice when under arrest, whether you are handcuffed or not,” she claimed.
“That is very different than a ‘publicity stunt’ planned and led by members themselves for a headline,” she added.
No faking here. Putting your hands behind your back is a best practice while detained, handcuffed or not, to avoid escalating charges like resisting arrest.
But given how you lied about a fellow rape survivor for “points,” as you put it to me, I don’t expect much else from you. pic.twitter.com/lUc1TPS21D
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 20, 2022
She continued to dismiss the allegations in an Instagram post:
AOC responded to the “fake handcuffs” video in an Instagram Stories post yesterday.
“Putting your hands behind your back is a best practice when under arrest, whether you are handcuffed or not,” said AOC, who was filmed fist-pumping supporters while being detained by police. pic.twitter.com/Rq0Be3ncmb
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) July 20, 2022
Conservatives, however, continued to mock Ocasio-Cortez for the stunt.
You guys… @AOC is such a victim that she has to pretend that the big, mean policeman put her in handcuffs…
She probably also thinks he wants to date her. pic.twitter.com/BvBF23BzUp
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 19, 2022
AOC: Prison changed me
Ma’am, you didn’t go to prison
AOC: I still experienced what it was like to be arrested
Ma’am, you weren’t arrested
AOC: I had handcuffs on
Ma’am, you were not cuffed
AOC: WHY DO YOU WANT TO DATE ME?
— LB (@beyondreasdoubt) July 19, 2022
AOC and Ilhan Omar’s handcuffs were as real as pregnant men.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 19, 2022
Ocasio–Cortez notoriously staged a photo of herself visiting the southern border during the Trump administration. Although she appeared in closely cropped shots to be crying at the sight of “caged” children, it was later revealed that shhe was looking at an empty parking lot.
I’ll never forget this, because it was the moment I saw with my own eyes that the America I love was becoming a nation that steals refugee children from their parents,& caged them.
More kids died after this. To date, no one has been held accountable.
We need to save these kids. https://t.co/HhdMqc5zML
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
She also was widely mocked for a dramatic re-enactment of her alleged “rape” by pro-Trump dissidents during the Jan. 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol, although it was later revealed that she was safely sheltering in an office building at roughly 200 yards from the Capitol.
