Comedian Alex Stein Sues Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Over Fallout From Heckle
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been sued by a comedian because she blocked him on Twitter after he heckled her outside the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit says AOC blocked Alex Stein “in retaliation to Mr. Stein’s exercise of his First Amendment right, because earlier that day Mr. Stein, in the context of political commentary and satire, complimented Ms. Cortez.
“Mr. Stein has a constitutional right to access Ms. Cortez’s Twitter account as part of vigorous public comment and criticism. Ms. Cortez’s practice of blocking Twitter users she disagrees with is unconstitutional and this suit seeks to redress that wrong.”
Stein’s lawyer, Jonathan Gross, said the reference to Ocasio-Cortez’s body “is a satire,” and the reference to her support for abortion rights “is obviously political.”
“My client is a political satirist,” Gross said. “Political speech, the Supreme Court has said, is the highest level of protected speech.”
“I really don’t have any hard feelings for AOC,” Stein said.
“I really would like to have her unblock me.
“I think ethically, AOC is kind of playing fast and loose.”
Stein says in the video below that got him blocked:
“She wants to kill babies but she’s still beautiful. You look very beautiful in that dress. You look very sexy. Look at that booty on AOC.
“Look how sexy she looks in that dress. Oooh, I love it AOC. Hot, hot, hot like a tamale.
AOC said at the time:
“I posted about a deeply disgusting incident that happened today on the Capitol steps, but took it down bc it’s clearly someone seeking extremist fame.
“It’s just a bummer to work in an institution that openly allowed this, but talking about it only invites more. “Just really sad.
“Here is a video he posted of the incident. I was actually walking over to deck him because if no one will protect us then I’ll do it myself but I needed to catch a vote more than a case today.”
According to CNBC:
Stein’s lawsuit cites a federal appeals court decision that ruled against then-President Donald Trump, saying he violated the constitutional rights of several people by blocking them from following him on Twitter.
The appeals court said Trump was acting in his official presidential capacity when he blocked those people.
Just days after that ruling in November 2019, Ocasio-Cortez apologized to and settled a case with former Brooklyn assemblyman Dov Hikind, who sued her for blocking him on her @AOC Twitter account in response to critical replies to her tweets.
In that case, Ocasio-Cortez lifted the block on Hikind, and said he “has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them.”