Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Links Jeanine Pirro's Attack On Rep. Omar To Death Threat

"Understand when Jeanine Pirro goes on Fox [and] rallies people to think hijabs are threatening, it leads to this," the New York congresswoman tweeted.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday linked an attack by Fox News host Jeanine Pirro on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to a phoned-in death threat against the Muslim congresswoman.

Patrick Carlineo, 55, of upstate New York, was arrested after allegedly vowing to shoot Omar, whom he called a “terrorist,” in a March 21 phone call to her Washington office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said in a statement Friday. Carlineo told federal agents when he was arrested that he “loves the president, and hates radical Muslims in our government.”

Pirro attacked Omar on her program March 11, saying the hijab Omar wears may be “antithetical to the Constitution.” In fact the First Amendment protects free expression of religion.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Saturday, “Understand when Jeanine Pirro goes on Fox + rallies people to think hijabs are threatening, it leads to this,” and linked to news about Carlineo’s arrest.

Pirro was yanked off the air by Fox temporarily amid calls for a boycott of her program because of the host’s attack on Omar. Fox issued a statement saying it did not support her comments. She was back on the air March 31.

Donald Trump mocked Omar in a speech to members of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on Saturday, just hours after news of Carlineo’s arrest.

There was no immediate response from Pirro on Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet.

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