MAGA influencer challenging for AOC’s seat in Congress joined Capitol riot: report

As a crowd of angry Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she feared both for her life and that the mob might sexually assault her.

"I didn’t think that I was just going to be killed," she told CNN’s, Dana Bash adding, "I thought other things were going to happen to me as well."

One of the members of that mob, according to a new investigation from fact-checking site Snopes, was Tina Forte, a Republican congressional candidate who is challenging the New York Democrat for her seat in the House in 2022.

Ms Forte, a MAGA influencer of sorts, both promoted the 6 January rallies ahead of time that eventually devolved into the riot, and was present for the events themselves, according to multiple posts across her own social media channels.

The day began with Ms Forte posting a photo of herself on Twitter around 4.30am, wearing combat gear with the caption “1776,” the date associated with the US Revolutionary War against Great Britain.

Later, she posted videos to Facebook showing her at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC posing alongside a massive artwork by artist Scott LoBaido rendering Nancy Pelosi as a demon.

“We’re going to the capitol, and we’re going to fight for Trump,” she wrote.

In another video, according to Snopes, taken at restricted area outside the US Capitol, she says, “I’m wearing a bulletproof vest, because I’m on everybody’s f****** hit list that you can possibly think off ... Now we’re at the capitol and now we’re on to the next one,” followed by a wink.

Later in the day, she recorded an interview with the conservative news network Newsmax where she said, “This is our house, and we have the right to be here. … We are in our house, OK?”

It is unclear if the candidate ever entered the US Capitol.

The Independent reached out to her campaign and congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s office, and did not receive a response by the time of publication.

A deeper look into Ms Forte’s social media profiles reveals support for a number of far-right causes including QAnon, the Proud Boys, and the “Stop the Steal” movement, which alleged without evidence the 2020 election was rigged.

The MAGA influencer has a huge following online, including more than 222,000 Twitter followers alone, so this content was likely seen by tens of thousands of people, if not more.

So far, 624 people have been charged with crimes for their involvement in the 6 January riots, including former police and military personnel, as well as media figures like Infowars’ Owen Shroyer.