Ocasio-Cortez says office ‘tagged with blood-splattered signs’ after pager attack remarks

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said her House office was “tagged with blood-splattered signs accusing [her] of supporting terrorism” after she condemned Israel for a series of explosions across Lebanon involving pagers that targeted members of militant group Hezbollah.

“Yesterday my House office was tagged with blood-splattered signs accusing me of supporting terrorism after I questioned the pager operation, which clearly runs counter to US policy,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote Friday in a post on the social platform X.

“They must live under a rock to not know I don’t take well to bullies,” she added in.

On Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez posted on X about the series of explosions in pagers in Lebanon.

Explosives were apparently hidden in pagers purchased by members of Hezbollah and then triggered, The New York Times reported. The pagers exploded in Beirut and southern Lebanon, reportedly killing 12 people, including two children, and wounding some 2,800 others.

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack but is widely thought to have carried it out.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the U.S. was not involved and did not know about the pager attacks ahead of time.

“This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a post Wednesday.

“Congress needs a full accounting of the attack, including an answer from the State Department as to whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology,” she added.

Ocasio-Cortez, an outspoken critic of Israel’s government amid increased tensions in the Middle East, included an excerpt from the Department of Defense Law of War Manual that prohibits using apparently harmless devices as objects that are designed and constructed with explosives.

“It is prohibited in all circumstances to use booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects that are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material,” the manual states.

It also notes that the prohibition relates to “booby-traps manufactured to resemble items” and is “intended to prevent the production of large quantities of dangerous objects that can be scattered around and are likely attractive to civilians, especially children.”

More explosions were reported Wednesday in Lebanon after the pager bombings.

The Associated Press reported that Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 20 people were killed and more than 450 were wounded in the second wave.

Updated at 3:25 p.m. EDT