Republican congressman posts video depicting violence against Ocasio-Cortez and Biden – CENTRAL

Republican Representative Paul Gosar posted a photoshopped anime video on his Twitter and Instagram accounts showing him appearing to kill the Democratic Representative. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response Monday, saying that a “creepy member” of the House had “shared a fantastic video of him killing me.”

“And he will not suffer any consequences because @GOPLeader encourages him with an apology,” added the New York Democrat.

As part of the initial tweet, Gosar asked, “Anime fans?”

He also shared a link to the video.

Gosar is portrayed as a cartoon-type hero and is seen attacking a giant with Ocasio-Cortez’s face with a sword from behind. The giant can then be seen collapsing to the ground.

Another scene shows Gosar flying through the air, swinging two swords at a figure with the face of President Biden.

Gosar did not respond to CNN’s request for comment for an explanation of the video and its significance.

Gosar’s chief digital officer, Jessica Lycos, said in a statement to The Washington Post Monday night, “Everyone needs to relax.”

Gosar tweeted a similar sentiment Tuesday morning, using another meme that included the phrase “It’s a cartoon. Relax.”

The appeals to parliamentary minority leader Kevin McCarthy were also not returned.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged McCarthy to call on the House Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate Gosar’s video.

“Threats of violence against members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated. @GOPLeader should join the condemnation of this horrific video and call on the ethics committee and law enforcement to investigate, “Pelosi tweeted Tuesday.

In a press release, four Democrats who co-chair the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee wrote: “In any other job in America, if a coworker made a video killing another coworker, that person would be dismissed. “

Democrats called on McCarthy to act, writing “Mr. McCarthy must decide whether he will finally side with the American people on the side of law and order or whether he will continue to support violence and chaos.” The co-chairs are Democratic Representatives Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania, Debbie Dingell of Michigan, Ted Lieu of California and Joe Neguse of Colorado.

Twitter said Monday night that the video violated its “hateful conduct” rules, but had not deleted the video, instead affixing a tag that read: “Twitter has determined that it may be in the best interests of the public that the Tweet remains accessible. “

The video was also posted on Instagram, owned by Facebook (now Meta).

Instagram does not appear to have taken any action on the video, and the company did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on Monday evening.

Gosar, a Republican congressman from Arizona, voted against certification of the election for Biden, and said that Ashli ​​babbitt, who was shot dead on the Capitol on January 6 had been “executed” and that “
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