Rep. AOC accused of pretending to be handcuffed after being arrested at protest

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is being accused of pretending to be handcuffed while she was arrested during a pro-abortion protest in front of the Supreme Court.

According to Capitol Police, a total of 35 people were arrested in the Tuesday protest for crowding, obstructing or incommoding. They added, “That arrest number includes 17 Members of Congress.”

AOC retweeted a video of her arrested in which she is seen with her hands behind her back as she is led away by police. Other videos from a different vantage point showed that the congresswoman was not wearing handcuffs, which became obvious when she raised her fist in the air as a sign of solidarity with the other protesters.

Another woman was being arrested by the same officer. He was holding onto an arm of both women. While the woman beside AOC appears to also have her hands behind her back in the video shared by AOC, the other video showed the woman with her arms freely holding a bag or purse. This brings doubt into claims that AOC may have been asked by the officer to put her hands behind her back.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) was also among those arrested. Omar Tweeted a video of her and AOC’s arrest in which she too has her hands behind her back, despite no officer escorting her. The clip of her arrest ends as she begins to lift a fist in the air.

Omar stated in the Tweet: “Today I was arrested while participating in a civil disobedience action with my fellow Members of Congress outside the Supreme Court. I will continue to do everything in my power to raise the alarm about the assault on our reproductive rights!”

Tim Fitton, a conservative activist and the president of Judicial Watch, criticized media outlets for sharing photos of the arrest in which it appears to show the congresswomen with their hands behind their backs, which many would assume to be in handcuffs unless told otherwise. “These pictures falsely suggest that @AOC and @IlhanMN were handcuffed. Is this ‘misinformation,’ @ABC?” Fitton Tweeted.

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) Tweeted in response to the incident: “AOC just faked being handcuffed to sell her lie. Democrats are failing so badly, they are now resorting to flat out lying to their voters to try to get them to vote. It’s pathetic!”

Some claimed that the incident was a staged publicity stunt. One Twitter user pointed to a Tweet by Rep. Omar’s Senior Communications Director/Strategist, Jeremy Slevin, in which he announced that “Members of Congress, including @IlhanMN will be participating in a civil disobedience at the Supreme Court, potentially including arrests, shortly.” A couple hours after that Tweet, he shared a video of the arrests.

Others Members of Congress that were arrested at the protest include: Dean, Velasquez, Lee, Speier, Clark, Jacobs, Tlaib, Andy Levin, Carolyn Maloney, Adams, Watson Coleman, Escobar, Bush, Schakowsky, and Pressley, per Axios reporter Andrew Solender.