Rep. Gosar under fire for anime attacking Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
FILE - Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., waits for a news conference about the Delta variant of COVID-19 and the origin of the virus, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 22, 2021. Gosar is facing criticism after he tweeted a video that included altered animation showing him striking congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. In a tweet Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez said Gosar “shared a fantasy video of him killing me.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar was facing criticism after he tweeted a video that included altered animation showing him striking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword.
In a tweet Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., referred to Gosar as “a creepy member I work with” and said he “shared a fantasy video of him killing me.” She added that Gosar would face no consequences because Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “cheers him on with excuses.” She also said that institutions “don’t protect” women of color.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted Tuesday from the climate conference in Scotland, where she’s leading a congressional delegation that includes Ocasio-Cortez, that: “Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated.” She called on McCarthy to condemn “this horrific video and call on the Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate.”
Spokespersons for McCarthy did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Pelosi’s tweet.
A fellow House Democrat, Ted Lieu of California, referred to Gosar’s tweet as “sick behavior” and said in a tweet of his own: “In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired.
Gosar, a Republican, posted the video Sunday afternoon with a note saying: “Any anime fans out there?”
The roughly 90-second video is an altered version of a Japanese anime series, interspersed with shots of Border Patrol officers and migrants at the southern U.S. border. During one roughly 10-second section of the video, animated characters whose faces have been replaced with Gosar and fellow Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado are seen fighting other animated characters.
In one scene, Gosar’s character is seen striking the one made to look like Ocasio-Cortez in the neck with a sword.
Twitter later attached a warning to the tweet saying “it violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
Gosar is known as an ardent ally of former President Donald Trump. He was among the lawmakers whose phone or computer records a House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection asked social media and telecommunications companies to preserve as they were potentially involved with efforts to “challenge, delay or interfere” with the certification or otherwise try to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
AOC says Republican who posted sword attack video ‘cheered on’ by party
Twitter said Paul Gosar’s anime spoof in which he appears to strike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez violated its rules on ‘hateful conduct’
Twitter said Paul Gosar’s anime spoof in which he appears to strike Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez violated its rules on ‘hateful conduct’
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Paul Gosar would face no consequences ‘because institutions don’t protect women of color’.
Photograph: Allison Bailey/Rex/Shutterstock
Martin Pengelly in New York and agencies
THE GUARDIAN
Tue 9 Nov 2021
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Republican leaders of “cheering on” a congressman who tweeted a video depicting him striking her with a sword – and said the incident showed how US institutions failed to protect women of color.
AOC says Marjorie Taylor Greene is ‘deeply unwell’ after 2019 video surfaces
The Democratic congresswoman from New York also said the Arizona Republican who tweeted the doctored anime video on Sunday, Paul Gosar, was “just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway” and “couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself”.
The video ended with an apparent threat to Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said “threats of violence against members of Congress and the president of the United States must not be tolerated” and called on the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, to “join in condemning this horrific video and call on the ethics committee and law enforcement to investigate”.
Twitter attached a hateful conduct warning to Gosar’s tweet, which was also posted to Instagram.
“This tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct,” Twitter’s message said. “However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.”
The roughly 90-second video is an altered version of a Japanese anime series, interspersed with shots of border patrol officers and migrants at the US border with Mexico.
In one section, characters whose faces are replaced with those of Gosar and fellow extremist Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado are seen fighting other characters.
Gosar’s character strikes another, made to look like Ocasio-Cortez, in the neck with a sword.
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: “A creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me and he’ll face no consequences because [McCarthy] cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday!
“Well, back to work because institutions don’t protect women of color.”
Ocasio-Cortez also listed other instances of threatening behavior from Republicans in Congress.
“Remember when [Ted] Yoho accosted me on the Capitol [steps] and called me a f[uck]ing b[itch]. Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching. Remember when she stalked my office the first time with insurrectionists and people locked inside.
“All at my job and nothing ever happens. Anyways, back to business.”
The congresswoman returned to the subject, however, to call Gosar “just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway”.
“White supremacy,” she said, “is for extremely fragile people and sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.”
Gosar is an ardent Trump ally who in 2018 was the subject of a campaign ad made by six of his siblings, exhorting voters to ditch him.
He is also among lawmakers whose phone or computer records are sought by the House committee investigating the deadly attack on Congress on 6 January, in which Trump supporters sought to overturn the former president’s election defeat.
On Monday, Eric Swalwell, a House California Democrat, said: “These bloodthirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them.”
The Yale historian Joanne Freeman, author of The Field of Blood, a well-regarded history of violence in Congress before the civil war, wrote: “Threats of violence lead to actual violence. They clear the ground. They cow opposition. They plant the idea. They normalize it. They encourage it. They maim democracy. And run the risk of killing it.”
Martin Pengelly in New York and agencies
THE GUARDIAN
Tue 9 Nov 2021
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Republican leaders of “cheering on” a congressman who tweeted a video depicting him striking her with a sword – and said the incident showed how US institutions failed to protect women of color.
AOC says Marjorie Taylor Greene is ‘deeply unwell’ after 2019 video surfaces
The Democratic congresswoman from New York also said the Arizona Republican who tweeted the doctored anime video on Sunday, Paul Gosar, was “just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway” and “couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself”.
The video ended with an apparent threat to Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said “threats of violence against members of Congress and the president of the United States must not be tolerated” and called on the House Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, to “join in condemning this horrific video and call on the ethics committee and law enforcement to investigate”.
Twitter attached a hateful conduct warning to Gosar’s tweet, which was also posted to Instagram.
“This tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct,” Twitter’s message said. “However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the tweet to remain accessible.”
The roughly 90-second video is an altered version of a Japanese anime series, interspersed with shots of border patrol officers and migrants at the US border with Mexico.
In one section, characters whose faces are replaced with those of Gosar and fellow extremist Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado are seen fighting other characters.
Gosar’s character strikes another, made to look like Ocasio-Cortez, in the neck with a sword.
On Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: “A creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me and he’ll face no consequences because [McCarthy] cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday!
“Well, back to work because institutions don’t protect women of color.”
Ocasio-Cortez also listed other instances of threatening behavior from Republicans in Congress.
“Remember when [Ted] Yoho accosted me on the Capitol [steps] and called me a f[uck]ing b[itch]. Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching. Remember when she stalked my office the first time with insurrectionists and people locked inside.
“All at my job and nothing ever happens. Anyways, back to business.”
The congresswoman returned to the subject, however, to call Gosar “just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway”.
“White supremacy,” she said, “is for extremely fragile people and sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.”
Gosar is an ardent Trump ally who in 2018 was the subject of a campaign ad made by six of his siblings, exhorting voters to ditch him.
He is also among lawmakers whose phone or computer records are sought by the House committee investigating the deadly attack on Congress on 6 January, in which Trump supporters sought to overturn the former president’s election defeat.
On Monday, Eric Swalwell, a House California Democrat, said: “These bloodthirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them.”
The Yale historian Joanne Freeman, author of The Field of Blood, a well-regarded history of violence in Congress before the civil war, wrote: “Threats of violence lead to actual violence. They clear the ground. They cow opposition. They plant the idea. They normalize it. They encourage it. They maim democracy. And run the risk of killing it.”
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