Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has settled a lawsuit with a former Brooklyn assemblyman over the congresswoman blocking him on Twitter.
Dov Hikind, the lawmaker who filed the lawsuit in July, sued the 30-year-old member of Congress, claiming that she violated his First Amendment rights by blocking him. Ocasio-Cortez’s Monday apology came a day before she was scheduled to testify in federal court.
“I have reconsidered my decision to block Dov Hikind from my Twitter account,” the freshman representative said in a statement obtained by The New York Post. “Mr. Hikind has a First Amendment right to express his views and should not be blocked for them.”
“In retrospect, it was wrong and improper and does not reflect the values I cherish. I sincerely apologize for blocking Mr. Hikind,” her statement continued. “Now and in the future, however, I reserve the right to block users who engage in actual harassment or exploit my personal/campaign account, @AOC, for commercial or other improper purposes.”
Hikind’s lawsuit came after a federal appeals court ruled that President Trump had violated the First Amendment by blocking people on Twitter because he uses his account for official government business. Hikind, who is Jewish and the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism, claimed Ocasio-Cortez blocked him after he criticized her for comparing immigration detention facilities to concentration camps.
Hikind expressed disappointment that he wouldn’t face Ocasio-Cortez in court, but he did offer her a chance to have a discussion about anti-Semitism in the United States.
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) November 4, 2019
“I also want to address to Ocasio-Cortez, to ask her, we have had an outbreak of anti-Semitism in New York that we have never had before — the numbers are unprecedented,” Hikind said during a press conference on Monday. “[A]ttacks upon Jews, Jewish blood in the streets, Swastikas being painted on synagogues, hate speech all over the place in New York.
“I want to challenge Ocasio-Cortez, who speaks out on everything that’s important for America, has not spoken out about anti-Semitism,” he added. “I challenge Ocasio-Cortez to speak up, to stand up, with me, with others, and speak out against the anti-Semitism that has invaded the streets of our city and our community.”
