AOC and Ilhan Omar coordinated Supreme Court arrest stunt with Soros-funded dark money group | Washington Examiner
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and the 15 other Democratic lawmakers who were arrested Tuesday outside the Supreme Court coordinated the stunt with a progressive dark money group funded by billionaire George Soros.
Getting arrested was the whole point of the stunt, Ocasio-Cortez said in an Instagram post on Tuesday. She said organizers of the Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund asked her and her colleagues to "submit themselves for arrest in front of the Supreme Court."
The New York lawmaker insisted in the post what she and her colleagues did was "very different than a 'publicity stunt.'"
Omar spokesman Jeremy Slevin tweeted about 30 minutes before the lawmakers hit the street that a film crew with the dark money group would be on the scene live streaming the event.
"Members of Congress, including [Omar] will be participating in a civil disobedience at the Supreme Court, potentially including arrests, shortly," Slevin tweeted before the lawmakers began illegally obstructing the street outside the Supreme Court. "@CPDAction is live streaming it. Follow along!"
Members of Congress, including @IlhanMN will be participating in a civil disobedience at the Supreme Court, potentially including arrests, shortly. 1 PM ET/12 PM CT.
— Jeremy Slevin (@jeremyslevin) July 19, 2022
Andrew Friedman, the co-executive director of CPD Action, told the Washington Post in 2018 that the group and its sister organization, Center for Popular Democracy, receive over $1 million a year from Soros's Open Society Foundations.
As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group, CPD Action isn't required to disclose the identity of its donors.
Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Getty
CPD Action said its leaders were among the 18 nonmembers of Congress who were arrested alongside Ocasio-Cortez and the other Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday.
"Moments ago, leaders from CPD Action network organizations, members of Congress & more participated in a powerful civil disobedience demonstration & got arrested to protect our RIGHT to SAFE & LEGAL abortions," the dark money group posted on Facebook Tuesday afternoon.
"This is a clear message to SCOTUS and lawmakers that #WeWontBackDown until ALL pregnancy-abled people are treated as full human beings with the autonomy to make decisions about OUR OWN bodies," the group added.
CPD Action linked to a fundraising page in its Facebook post that urged activists to "continue acts of civil disobedience," such as the one it coordinated with the 17 arrested members of Congress on Tuesday, to secure access to abortion across the country.
Ocasio-Cortez was widely mocked by conservative commentators for creating the impression that she was handcuffed by police during her arrest. The New York lawmaker was filmed crossing her hands behind her back while she was being escorted off the scene by police. She then pumped her fist toward a crowd of supporters while still detained by police.
Ocasio-Cortez insisted she wasn't pretending to be in handcuffs during her arrest.
"No faking here," Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet on Wednesday. "Putting your hands behind your back is a best practice while detained, handcuffed or not, to avoid escalating charges like resisting arrest. But given how you lied about a fellow rape survivor for 'points,' as you put it to me, I don't expect much else from you."
A Capitol Police spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that nobody arrested outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday was handcuffed.
"As is standard for peaceful, planned protests, those who were arrested were ticketed and released on site," the spokesperson said. "Nobody was handcuffed, as is standard for a noncustodial arrest. Everyone was arrested for Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding (DC Code § 22-1307). They have up to 15 days to pay a $50 fine or they can have a hearing."
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That's a long winded way to say publicity stunt.
I like the picture. It captures everything about her.
The photoshopped image did that.
Ah, has the perennial dust bunny Soros come out to play? He's a commie pinko Jew who sold out his ethnic comrades to the Nazis ... Run away, run away! /S
The lies about Soros have come out I see.
I saw no lies about soros. Point them out
[removed]
Lies about Soros.
All some have obviously.
Who are the some?
Those who you refer to as 'many' or 'most'.
The right uses Soros as a boogeyman just as the left uses the Koch brothers. Capiche?
You directed your question to the wrong person. Note that we both replied to Vic.
Obfuscation perhaps.
What lies are those? Examples please.
Yep. Not like I really expected an answer anyway.
AOC Still Handcuffed As Capitol Police Misplaced The Invisible Key
I am betting the "cops" in the pics were fake also. I would like to have been an arresting officer though. The cuffs would have gotten an extra ratchet or two and she would have been led off by holding and twisting the links between the cuffs.