Privately guarded, Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Squad’ denies Israel’s right to protection

Evidently, For “The Squad”, a group of U.S. Congressional House Reps led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, personal protection is an unassailable right except for those luckless enough to reside in their constituent districts and, of course, for Israel’s Jews.

While Ocasio-Cortez elbows onto the national stage, guarded by rented no-necks, last year her vulnerable and largely impoverished Bronx voters suffered 12,159 violent crimes and 25,054 crimes against property, for a total of 37,213 crimes.

In their own communities, the other Squadniks, are no less statistically discredited. Yet, rather than to attend to the welfare of those who voted for them, Ocasio-Cortez and her Michigan cohort, Rep Rashida Tlaib, have authored a resolution seeking to block America’s $735 million dollar sale to Israel of Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS), and of Small Diameter Bombs.

Both weapons, reportedly used by Israel in the current Gaza conflict, are equipped with pin-point precision guidance systems that improve avoidance of peripheral injury to Gaza’s Palestinian civilians. “The Squad”, not only refuse Israel’s right to defend herself but even deny to Gaza’s civilians an improved margin of war safety.

The sale is sure to pass, the squad’s objection just another headline grab. Yet, while condemning Israel’s right to self-defense, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib and other members of the group that includes Representatives Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Cori Bush of Missouri and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, have spent tens of thousands of dollars on private security services for their own personal protection.

According to Federal Election Commission data, since December, 2020 Ocasio-Cortez has paid a monthly $3,000 fee to a New York-based security consultant service for private protection. At one point, beginning May 5, 2020, Ocasio-Cortez paid out as much as $5,000 a month. At the same time, the Bronx Rep, who is reportedly worth over a million dollars, has militated against police funding for the crime-ridden Bronx, in which violent crimes in the past Pandemic year rose to twice the national average. Since the start of 2021, Ocasio-Cortez has spent over $25,000 for personal protection.

Representative Ayanna Pressley, who has spearheaded “The People’s Justice Guarantee” – a sweeping plan for a reformed criminal justice system in her home state – has spent an estimated $4,200 on private protection, including $2,300 and $250 respectively on private security firms in January and March 2021, and $1,260 on protection provided by a Virginia-based firm in January 2021; $675 on ADT security services in March; a further $700 in March on security services from a Washington DC. firm.

So far, in 2021, Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has spent $3,100 on security services for her personal protection, while Representative Cori Bush, the newest member of “The Squad”, has spent an incredible $32,000 on the “security services” guarding her.

It’s time for Ocasio-Cortez and company to return their attention to the safety and welfare of their own beleaguered constituencies and to forgo their campaign to destroy the State of Israel. Yet, they continue to grandstand on the national stage against the Jewish State, wasting time, breath, goodwill and hard-earned taxpayers’ dollars on what is little more than headline-grabbing antisemitism cloaked in so-called “Progressive” concerns.