I’ve taken my chances before ridiculing Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) for her endless supply of dopey hats, so I have nothing to lose by taking fresh shots at her here.
Wilson, who in 2017 declared herself to be “a rock star now,” was wearing another of her silly hats on Tuesday when she said that people “making fun of members of Congress” online “should be prosecuted.” Here’s the video, in which she conflates ridicule with threatening a member of Congress, which is in fact a felony under U.S. Code 18, § 875 and § 876.
Democrat Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL) says that people who are “making fun of members of Congress” online “should be prosecuted” pic.twitter.com/f69KwOeJ0n
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 2, 2019
Wilson knows a good bit about using the internet to ridicule a member of Congress. As The Washington Post reported in 2017, Wilson’s staff was charged with illegally obtaining private nude photographs of Delegate Stacey Plaskett and videos of her family, then using an Internet account under an assumed name to distribute the photos and encourage other Internet users to share them online.
Since Wilson believes that ridicule and threat are synonymous, she is also personally guilty of threatening the president of the United States, which is punishable by up to 5 years of imprisonment. In August 2018, Wilson announced in the wake of Donald Trump’s reference in a tweet to former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman as “a dog” that she was giving him a nickname of his own. The nickname: “Don in the first grade reader.”
Ouch!(?)
