A former youth organizer for New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been arrested after allegedly urging her 25,000 followers to “attack” a New York City high school because it has Jewish students.
“If anyone needs a public school in NYC to attack for whatever reason … Lexus driving Israhell (sic) loving Zionisits (sic) all attend here,” the since-deleted post by Iman Abdul, 27, read, according to the New York Post.CONTINUE READING
On Thursday, Abdul shared a Google Maps screenshot of Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences in Manhattan Beach, accompanied by a disturbing caption, noted The Post.
“They’ve all gone on ‘Birthright,’” Abdul, from Brooklyn, added in the caption, a reference to a program offering free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults.
The New York City Police Department arrested Abdul at her home on Friday, charging her with making a terroristic threat, acting in a manner injurious to a child, aggravated harassment, and making a threat of mass harm, according to The Post.
According to Salazar, Abdul worked on the 2018 Democratic primary campaigns of both Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York State Sen. Julia Salazar, serving as a canvasser for the latter.
Ocasio-Cortez broke House ethics rules by accepting more than $3,700 in gifts for her appearance at the 2021 Met Gala — including the now-infamous “Tax The Rich” dress — but paid less than $1,000 for the items, according to a report late last month.
The House Ethics Committee found that the New York Democrat failed to follow House rules on gifts and improperly gave her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, a free ticket to the exclusive $35,000-per-head event, The New York Post reported.
But the panel stopped short of issuing any formal sanctions.
According to the committee, the fair-market value of the rented Brother Vellies dress, shoes, jewelry, handbag, and hairpiece totaled $3,724.04.
Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign delayed payments for months and eventually paid just $990.76 — most of it from her own pocket.
Her staff also disputed some of the invoices and tried to reduce costs by comparing the couture gown to cheaper rentals online.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s attempt to apply a retail rental cost to a handmade couture gown was unrealistic,” the committee’s report said.
The report noted that most vendors weren’t paid until after they made repeated attempts to collect — some even threatened legal action.
That led to subpoenas from the committee and a more than three-year investigation.
While the panel said it found no evidence Ocasio-Cortez “intentionally” underpaid for the goods, it did place blame on her former staffers, including ex-campaign manager Rebecca Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was caught trying to negotiate down the cost of the dress — from $1,300 to $300 — and left a $477 hairstylist bill unpaid for nearly six months.
The hairstylist eventually threatened to report the congresswoman’s campaign to the New York Department of Labor.
The Ethics Committee said no punishment would be necessary — as long as Ocasio-Cortez donates $250 to cover her boyfriend’s dinner at the event and pays an additional $2,733.28 to the designer.
AOC’s chief of staff, Mike Casca, said in a statement, “The Congresswoman appreciates the Committee finding that she made efforts to ensure her compliance with House Rules and sought to act consistently with her ethical requirements as a Member of the House.”
“She accepts the ruling and will remedy the remaining amounts, as she’s done at each step in this process,” he added.
Under House rules, members of Congress are barred from accepting gifts — with a few exceptions, including tickets to charity events if invited by the organization hosting it.
