What did Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez do? AOC lashes out at protesters demanding she calls the Israel-Hamas war a genocide

The American politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently lashed out at protesters at a Brooklyn movie theater. The people confronted the leftist lawmaker and asked her to call Israel’s ongoing military attack in Gaza a genocide.

The 34-year-old and her fiancé were seen pacing outside the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn, New York, as she tried to avoid the protestors. The people recorded the entire incident with the phones in their hands. One of them said, "You refuse to call it a genocide!" According to Fox News, Ocasio-Cortez replied to them saying,

"I need you to understand that this is not okay."

She was referencing the protestors following her. The activist fired back with, "It’s not okay that there’s a genocide happening, and you’re not actively against it. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez countered with,

"You're lying!"

She then walked down an escalator with her partner, as per NBC.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez snaps at NYC protesters at movie theater who demanded she call Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a genocide

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The politician was confronted by Pro-Palestinian supporters who called her out for not labeling the current attacks by the Israeli government towards Gaza a genocide.

As of 5 March 2024, over 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza, 11,500 of them being children, as per NPR. At around 5 p.m. on Monday, protesters approached Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her fiancé, Riley Roberts, in the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. As per The New York Post, the protestors criticized her for not publicly calling Israel’s bombing of Gaza a “genocide.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denied the claims, saying that the protesters were lying. The small crowd continued to trail behind the Democrat and followed her down the escalators. One protestor said,

"If you can’t say it, just say it. Literally. We’re just talking to you like normal people. Just say it’s a genocide. Just say it. Over 30,000 people are dead AOC, you can’t just say it for once? Just say the word, that’s it. That’s all we want you to say."

When everyone got outside, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got in front of the Pro-Palestinians, and she said, "Stop. Okay, stop." One of the activists then asked whether the politician was worried her comments would "go viral." Alexandria complained,

"You’re gonna cut it … and you’re gonna clip this so that it’s completely out of context."

According to The New York Post, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not publicly called Israel’s airstrikes and military attacks in Gaza a genocide. However, she seemingly implied on Monday that she had already said the word. She railed,

"I already said that it was and y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t over and over again. It’s f*cked up, man, And you’re not helping these people, and you’re not helping them, you’re not helping them."

The politician seemed visibly agitated in the video, and netizens made one of her past tweets from December 2020 go viral after Monday's confrontation. She wrote,

"The whole point of protesting is to make [people] uncomfortable. Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows. To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable … that’s the point.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has not yet called the Hamas-Israel war a genocide. Host Kristen Welker asked the politician whether using the term was going overboard during a Meet the Press interview in late January, as per Fox News.

She sidestepped the question, saying young people were "appalled at the violence and the indiscriminate loss of life." Kristen reiterated whether the citizens were still determining whether it is a genocide. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez replied,

"I believe that they are. They’re still determining it. But in the interim ruling, the fact that they said there’s a responsibility to prevent it, the fact that this word is even in play, the fact that this word is even in our discourse, I think, demonstrates the mass inhumanity that Gazans are facing."

Alexandria has criticized Israel numerous times and called for a cease-fire in Gaza on many occasions, as per Times Now.