Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks to the media after visiting the detention facility in Clint, Texas on July 1, 2019. (Christ Chavez/Getty Images/via JTA)
JTA — Dov Hikind is making a federal case of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blocking him on Twitter because he holds opposing viewpoints.
Hikind, a former New York Democratic assemblyman, filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday hours after a federal appeals court ruled that US President Donald Trump was violating the Constitution by blocking people from following his official Twitter account because they criticized or mocked him.
Hikind told The New York Times that Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, blocked him from her personal account on July 8 after he criticized her for calling US migrant detention centers “concentration camps.”
She has some 4.7 million followers on her @AOC account, where she discusses policy and her proposals. Her official congressional account, @RepAOC, has 172,000 followers.
“It’s very clear based on the court’s ruling that A.O.C. is violating my constitutional rights to free speech by excluding me,” Hikind told the Times. “She doesn’t want me to be a part of the discussion and conversation.”
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Then-Democratic New York State assemblyman Dov Hikind speaks at a press conference with American and Israeli Jewish leaders and supporters of Israel on September 20, 2011 in New York City. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images via JTA)
“Ocasio-Cortez is acting cowardly [sic] and should be ashamed of her attempts to silence me. I’ve done nothing but address her ignorance and disregard for the truth. She constantly brags about the millions of followers she has but is afraid of my speech. She is a hypocrite,” he said in a statement when he filed the lawsuit.
The freshman lawmaker reportedly has blocked journalists and critics.
A second lawsuit was filed against Ocasio-Cortez in US District Court in Manhattan by Joseph Saladino, a YouTube personality called “Joey Salads” who is running for Congress representing Brooklyn and Staten Island.
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