Share
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded Tuesday to reports about a video shown at a Fresno Grizzlies game that compared her to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and the late Cuban strongman Fidel Castro.
“What people don’t (maybe do) realize is when orgs air these hateful messages, my life changes bc of the flood of death threats they inspire,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Ocasio-Cortez retweeted a Twitter post by the Fresno Bee’s Carmen George, who attended Monday’s doubleheader at Chukchansi Park and witnessed the video, which Fresno Grizzlies officials said was lifted from a third-party YouTube account and not properly vetted before it appeared on the scoreboard.
Grizzlies team president Derek Franks said Tuesday the staff member who found and used the video was “remorseful.”
“We didn’t take the full steps to make sure that video was the right content for the ballclub,” Franks said.
The bulk of the video featured patriotic images of the U.S. military. The video’s audio was a Memorial Day speech from the mid-’80s by President Ronald Reagan. The images of the congresswoman, Kim, and Castro, along with pictures of alt-left Antifa protesters, appear near the end of the 3-minute, 35-second video.
What people don’t (maybe do) realize is when orgs air these hateful messages, my life changes bc of the flood of death threats they inspire.
I‘ve had mornings where I wake up & the 1st thing I do w/ my coffee is review photos of the men (it’s always men) who want to kill me. https://t.co/hiYbPghad7
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 28, 2019
Within hours of the video being displayed, the Grizzlies posted a tweet that described it as “a pre-produced video from outside our front office” that contained “some misleading and offensive editing.”
“We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first,” the post said. Another tweet posted about an hour later apologized to Ocasio-Cortez.
— Fresno Grizzlies (@FresnoGrizzlies) May 28, 2019
The Grizzlies play in the Pacific Coast League. The team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
Here is the video:
Categories
Yellen Says Threats to Democracy Risk US Economic Growth, an Indirect Jab at Trump
New Sea Route for Gaza Aid on Track. Treating Starving Children Is a Priority
At Time of Rising Antisemitism, Holocaust Survivors Take on Denial and Hate in New Digital Campaign
Gov. Newsom Appoints Judges for Fresno, Merced Counties
