2 La. police officers fired after Facebook post suggests shooting U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

July 24, 2019
2 La. police officers fired after Facebook post suggests shooting U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

A Facebook post suggesting U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be shot has led to the firing of two Louisiana police officers.

The police chief in Gretna says the two officers violated the department's social media policy, according to The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.

Officer Charlie Rispoli authored the post, according to the newspaper, and officer Angelo Varisco "liked" it.

The post, which included a link to a fake news story, called Ocasio-Cortez "a vile idiot" and said she "needs a round, and I don't mean the kind she used to serve," an apparent reference to the congresswoman's previous job as a bartender.

Considered by many to be a rising star in the Democratic party, Ocasio-Cortez is serving her first term in office, representing parts of New York's Bronx and Queens boroughs.

"These officers have certainly acted in a manner which was unprofessional, alluding to a violent act to be conducted against a sitting U.S. (congresswoman), a member of our government," Gretna police chief Arthur Lawson said at a news conference. "We are not going to tolerate that."

The post has since been deleted, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate reports.

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©2019 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)

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