White Supremacist Rep. Paul Gosar Must Be Expelled From Congress – Hold Him Accountable

The far-right’s penchant for eliminationist violent fantasies took another dark turn over the weekend. Seditious insurrectionist Rep. Paul Gosar is desperate for attention again. GOP Rep. Paul Gosar Posts Anime Video Of Him Killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) sparked outcry after he shared an edited anime video on Sunday that depicts him swinging swords at President Joe Biden and killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

The lawmaker, who has been linked to white nationalist and other extremist groups, tweeted the opening credits from the Japanese animated series “Attack on Titan” but altered to show himself in the place of the main character and with the show’s title in Japanese changed to “Attack on Immigrants.”

In the video, Gosar is depicted fighting the show’s “Titans” with far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.). In one scene, Ocasio-Cortez’s face is superimposed on one of the Titans. Gosar slashes its neck and kills it. In another scene, Gosar swings two swords at an enemy with Biden’s face edited onto it.

The clips are intermixed with real videos of U.S. Border Patrol officers corralling migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. The words “drugs,” “crime,” “poverty,” “money,” “gangs,” violence” and “trafficking” flashed across the screen along with blood-splatter effects.

The “Attack on Titan” opening credits are often parodied as part of a meme.

Gosar has been a dedicated purveyor of conspiracy theories and lies about the 2020 election and was named by organizers of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as one of a group of GOP lawmakers who communicated with them in the weeks before the attack, according to a recent Rolling Stone report. Gosar reportedly suggested to organizers that they would be offered a “blanket pardon” by then-President Donald Trump.

Gosar was denounced online for appearing to endorse violence with his Sunday tweet. Ocasio-Cortez responded with a thread noting his white supremacist ties and calling out House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for failing to rein him in.

[S]cores of Twitter users commented that they had reported the video. According to Twitter’s rules, content that glorifies violence is prohibited.

A Twitter spokesperson said the platform had placed a public interest notice on the Tweet as it violated its hateful conduct policy.

“As is standard with this notice, engagements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to Quote Tweet the Tweet, but will not be able to Like, Reply or Retweet it,” the statement said.

Paul Gosar in danger of getting ‘visit from the Secret Service’ over threat to Biden: former prosecutor (excerpt):

As Salon’s Jon Skolnik wrote, the anime-themed video shows Gosar attacking Ocasio-Cortez before the GOP congressman “is shown leaping into the air with his blades unsheathed moments before striking the photoshopped head of President Joe Biden.”

That, former prosecutor Elie Hoenig said, will mean Gosar will be facing scrutiny from the Secret Service.

“First of all, this is unbelievably dangerous,” Hoenig told CNN host John Berman. “Gosar will get a visit from the Secret Service, no question about that. The U.S. Constitution, Article One, gives the House of Representatives and the Senate power to expel its own members by a two-thirds vote — that is very, very rarely done.”

“But you have to ask, if not now when?” he continued. “What person at what company in the United States, public or private, would not get fired for doing something like that? Congress has that constitutional power. we’ll see whether there’s any will to exercise it.”

Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell late Monday night, the sister of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) hammered her brother for posting a video to his Twitter account that encouraged violence against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez (D-NY). Paul Gosar is ‘getting worse’: Sister explains what’s wrong with ‘deeply perverted’ extremist Republican:

With Twitter flagging the video as well as one that could be interpreted as a threat against President Joe Biden, but not removing them, Jennifer Gosar called her brother “despicable” and suggested the Republican Party needs to do something about him before someone gets hurt.

Speaking with host Lawrence O’Donnell, who called Gosar’s actions “deeply perverted homicidal fantasies,” and then asked, “What is wrong with him, and is it getting worse?” she replied, “Yes it is getting worse because he is not being held accountable in any way, shape or form.”

“Does he need to act on his sociopathic fantasy for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez? I am very concerned for [her] and other members, and this absolute unacceptable” she continued. “I do not understand it and I am livid, Lawrence.”

“You would think those very members alongside him would hold him accountable, but no,” she exclaimed. “They leave it for family members to come forward in the public on a show like yours, and thank you for letting me speak out here. This is my first time on your show but I appreciate any opportunity to put a spotlight on this awful man.”

But wait … there’s more!

Normally when an individual threatens someone’s life or draws a cartoon about someone being killed, a judge will issue a victim protection order and police do investigations. But when a Republican member of Congress does it, things get complicated. Calls for Gosar to be censured after AOC assassination meme:

Such was the case when Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) posted an anime cartoon of himself assassinating colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The photo also depicts himself swinging swords at President Joe Biden. The photo was a violation of Twitter’s terms of service and was removed, but not before many screen captures were taken.

Gosar’s siblings have worked to tell voters as often as possible that their brother is mentally ill and that he doesn’t belong in Congress. His colleagues are also calling on either censure or expulsion for Gosar. Expelling Gosar from Congress would take all Democratic members to vote for it and 70 Republicans. Thus far only one Republican has been willing to denounce what Gosar did.

Many also noted that this isn’t the first time Gosar has casually talked about assassination. There’s also the matter of his participation in the planning of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Ali Alexander. He warrants investigation by the FBI as a danger to America, commentators tweeted.

Many have called on Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to act. It’s unclear if there will be a vote to censure Gosar for the behavior.

What does this say about the voters of Gosar’s district who keep reelecting this known white supremacist? And what does it say about Republicans who do not censure him or call for his expulsion from office?