On July 18, 2019, Charlie Rispoli, a police officer from Gretna, posted on Facebook a threat to shoot her. He called her an "idiot" who "needs a round, and I don't mean the kind she used to serve" as a bartender. Rispoli posted the comment in response to a "fake news" article that falsely quoted Ocasio-Cortez as saying "We pay soldiers too much." Rispoli was fired for his post and his Facebook account was deleted.