New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has responded to the Fresno Grizzlies running a video during a game on Memorial Day showing her photo alongside those of brutal dictators.
The video starts with a montage of patriotic photos: There’s the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, and Arlington Cemetery, all accompanied by dramatic music and a speech by former President Ronald Reagan.
But as Reagan switches gears to address “enemies of freedom,” the photos change to show Antifa fighters, Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Un, and Ocasio-Cortez.
Within hours of the showing, the Grizzlies, the minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, apologized on Twitter, admitting it was a mistake and writing “we’re embarrassed that we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first.” A team spokesman said via email that the video had been “selected in haste from Youtube” and that the edit at the end was not meant to air.
It’s unclear who produced the video. It features no title or credits, and was uploaded to Youtube a week ago by a user named “Emilio E” who at that time had less than 200 subscribers. As of posting this story, the video had already been viewed more than 274,000 times, most of which had occurred since Monday evening.
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez could not be reached for comment, but in a series of Tweets on Tuesday afternoon, she said “hateful messages” like these change her life because they inspire floods of death threats.
