 The depths that some people in this country will go to just for attention is genuinely Disturbing and depressing. Nonetheless, we have a situation where somebody who trolled AOC by literally filming himself sexually harassing her I'm of course talking about right-wing provocateur Alec Stein Well, he's now suing her because after he sexually harassed her and filmed himself doing so She blocked him on Twitter and now he's taking her to court alleging that his First Amendment rights Have been violated now for those of you who don't remember the story back in July of 2022 AOC posted this on Twitter about the incident saying I posted about a deeply disgusting incident that happened today on the Capitol steps But took it down because it's clearly someone seeking extremist fame It's just a bummer to work in an institution that openly allowed this but talking about only invites more just really sad She continues. Here's the video. He posted of the incident I was actually walking over to deck in because if no one will protect us then I'll do it myself But I needed to catch a vote more than a case today. Now. Here's the video that she shared Oh, I love it AOC That right there is textbook sexual harassment and he's doing it for attention and clout and AOC Isn't the only person who he has harassed. He showed up to the I believe headquarters of barstool sports Calling out Dave Portnoy and he brought some guy in I think a diaper and he does these things to illicit responses and gain notoriety So AOC what she was referring to there is his desire to get attention So what she did is she responded properly to a troll by trying not to feed the troll and she just blocked him But in this instance well since she is a public figure He's claiming that his first amendment rights have been violated and he's now suing her insider reports in the suit Stein claims that Ocasio-Cortez was actually flattered by his comments I'm sure supposedly evidenced by her flashing a peace sign at him But blocked him once she realized he was not a political ally The lawsuit also provides a screenshot from Stein's account showing that he was blocked Stein's lawyer requests that he immediately be unblocked from the AOC Twitter account Ocasio-Cortez's personal account which the suit describes as her de facto official account now Let's be very clear about this. Alec Stein is suing her so he can get more attention by talking about this right now Unfortunately, we're giving him exactly what he wants and by looking at his video reacting to his video in a negative way back in 2022 we all gave him exactly what he wants because there are some grifters online who they thrive on Negative engagement because even if it is the case that most of the people who react to them are reacting in a negative way That's still attention nonetheless and that still helps him build up his name recognition get his name out there And now he has a show on the blaze TV. So by him sexually harassing AOC and subsequently suing her We have to be real about the fact that this is a troll who is trying to get attention Having said that though There could be merit to his case because as insider continues the suit Knight First Amendment Institute versus Donald J. Trump In which a federal judge ruled in 2018 that Trump had violated the first amendment by blocking his critics on Twitter via his Personal real Donald Trump account the ruling established that personal accounts can turn into a governmental one if it becomes an organ of official business However, another suit Campbell v. Reich Maintained that certain accounts run by government officials even those that sometimes tweet about official government proceedings can still be considered Personal and therefore exempt from this rule So it seems as if there is a lot of legal gray area here and the parameters haven't really been established yet But because of the Knight First Amendment Institute v. Real Donald Trump case It does seem as if just as a general rule Politicians since they are public figures who represent the US government should not block their critics however, is there a difference between blocking a critic and Blocking somebody who is harassing you because in real life you can't take legal action against somebody who's criticizing you on the streets However, if that individual is following you around and screaming at you and harassing you you can call the cops You can get a restraining order on that individual. So is social media the same thing? We've also seen how when protesters show up to the offices of politicians. They can get arrested. So is Twitter tantamount to Public protest does harassment apply? These are open questions that don't actually have legal answers to you can make a moral argument against these things But it's difficult to say legally what exactly is going to happen now AOC actually was sued back in 2019 for blocking somebody who criticized her and in this instance It was very clear that she was not being harassed by this individual so she ended up settling and Apologizing to the individual who she blocked which is a former Democratic state lawmaker in New York who criticized her for calling Trump's migrant detention facilities Concentration camps so according to a court that violated his first amendment, right? That was legitimate political criticism, even if you and I disagree with it. So the question is What's gonna happen with this case and it's really difficult to say now AOC Has talked about this before and she's defended her reasoning for blocking individuals and she says that Harassment is not speech that she has to put up with even though she's a government official In fact, here's what she said specifically. I have 5.2 million followers less than 20 accounts are blocked for ongoing harassment Zero of them are my constituents Harassment is not a viewpoint some accounts like the Daily Caller posted fake nude photos of me and abused my comments to spread it No one is entitled to abuse. She added people are free to speak whatever classist racist false Misogynistic bigoted comments. They'd like they do not have the right to force others to endure their harassment and abuse So the legal question is does harassment constitute protected political speech? so What Alex Dine did there was obviously harassment and I'm assuming that he subsequently took to Twitter to harass her and brag About sexually harassing her in public. In fact, I think he did. I'm pretty sure I remember that but Is he entitled to view her posts given that one he harassed her That's not just legitimate political criticism and two. He's not a constituent of representative Acasio-Cortez and three Well, he's very clearly just trying to get attention. Is it the case that his First Amendment rights have been violated by AOC? because if she was forced to Unblock somebody who she blocked before will the same be true here Well, I think that this case is going to determine legally if there is a distinction between political criticism and harassment and I'm not qualified to make that legal judgment another interesting question is is an alternative remedy like muting them Sufficient. I mean, these are all questions that will be answered by this case But one thing is for sure regardless of the merit of this case It's clear that Alex Stein is a troll and a provocateur and this is nothing more than his lame attempt at getting attention But it is a complicated legal question about whether or not lawmakers Blocking individuals online is a violation of the First Amendment We've seen in limited instances that that does indeed seem to be the case But if it's harassment does that change anything? Well, I guess we'll find out because of this case But either way regardless of what happens in this case Understand that Alex Stein is a troll and is not to be taken seriously by anyone You