Key Points
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sexually harrassed by a right-wing troll in front of a Capitol Police officer
- She's criticised them for not intervening in the incident
This article contains references to sexual harassment.
United States congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised Capitol police for not protecting her when she was sexually harassed by a right-wing troll in front of an officer.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez was walking up the steps to the US Capitol building with an aide when Alex Stein began catcalling her, saying she was his "favourite big booty Latina".
"'I love you, AOC, you're my favourite," he yelled while filming the incident later posted on the internet.
"She wants to kill babies, but she's still beautiful.
The Democratic representative for New York began approaching Mr Stein as he continued to make comments about her appearance.
But after appearing to be held back by her aide, Ms Ocasio-Cortez instead flashed an ironic peace sign at the camera.
"Look how sexy she looks in that dress," Mr Stein said as she walked away.
"Wooo, I love it, AOC. Hot, hot, hot like a tamale."
In a series of Instagram stories, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said it was "so crazy" that the whole incident took place in front of a Capitol police officer who did nothing to stop it.
"This wasn't about a political opinion, protest or anything like that," she said of Mr Stein.
"He was engaged in very clearly sexually threatening aggressive behaviour, on the Capitol steps, in front of an officer, and he wasn't even asked to take a step back.
"This institution is not designed to protect people and it's really hard and it's really sad that my only recourse is to just let you know about it."
The 32-year-old said the fact officer seemed "cool" with what had happened, highlighted the need for a thorough investigation into whether members of the Capitol Police were complicit in the 6 January 2021 attack on Congress.
"I really just can't help but think about all of that footage and evidence that we saw the day of all these Capitol police officers helping and being sympathetic to the insurrectionists," she said.
"Everyone just decided it was too politically difficult to deal with, so they all just brushed it under the rug.
"As a result, we have no idea which officers are safe to be around."
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