A Louisiana police officer who suggested on Facebook that Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) should be shot was fired from his job, along with a second officer who liked his post.
The big picture: Nola.com first reported that Gretna City Police Department officer Charles Rispoli wrote in a post Thursday that linked to a fake story on the freshman lawmaker, "This vile idiot needs a round.... And I don't mean the kind she used to serve." The outlet obtained a screenshot before it was deleted.
What they're saying: Gretna City Police Department chief Arthur Lawson told a news conference filmed by WWLTV that Rispoli and Angelo Varisco, who "liked" the post, had been fired following an internal investigation.
Why it matters: The incident came days after President Trump drew criticism even from some Republicans for tweeting that Ocasio-Cortez and 3 other Democratic congresswomen of color should "go back" and fix the "crime infested places from which they came," despite the fact 3 of the 4 are U.S.-born and all are American citizens.
- Ocasio-Cortez publicly addressed the Louisiana police issue for the first time in a tweet on Monday saying, "This is Trump’s goal when he uses targeted language & threatens elected officials who don’t agree w/ his political agenda."
Go deeper:
