Last week, the CEO of GEO Group, a private prison company, sent a letter to employees about various protests that took place across the company. Specifically, the CEO, George Zoley, addressed protestors anti-law enforcement sentiments and behavior that took place at their facilities in Boulder, Colorado; Aurora, Colorado; Tacoma, Washington; Boca Raton, Florida; and San Antonio, Texas.
In one section, Zoley calls out Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
"On August 12, 2019, our Corporate Office in Boca Raton was protested by 'Never Again Action.' Never Again Action is a mobilization of different affiliated Jewish organizers whose goal is to shut down ICE. This new organization sprang up after congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez referred to ICE processing centers as 'concentration camps.' A host of mainstream Jewish organizations joined the U.S. Holocaust Museum to reject the comparisons made between the Holocaust and current events," Zoley explained. "The following day, August 13, 2019, at approximately 3:00 am, shots were fired into ICE's San Antonio Office and our Central Office (located in the same building). Luckily, no one was injured, and the FBI is investigating this incident as a targeted attack."
"The intent of my message is not to cause you to be fearful, but rather ensure you know fact from fiction. False narratives and deliberate mischaracterizations were the basis for these most recent events," Zoley wrote. "Misguided individuals intimidated our employees and defamed the American flag at a time when we recently commemorated the birth of our nation and the 75th anniversary of our landing at Normandy. Even more troubling, are the individuals in Tacoma and San Antonio who were intent on causing physical harm to persons and property."
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According to Zoley, GEO's facilities are being misrepresented in the news media and by politicians.
"Our facilities have never been overcrowded, nor have they ever housed unaccompanied minors. Contrary to some reports, our company has never provided services related to the separation of families," the letter read.
CEO of the largest private prison corp in the US decries anti-ICE protests, @AOC, @NeverAgainActn, and people who “defamed the American flag” (?) per internal email I obtained: https://t.co/NxHL3DQLTs pic.twitter.com/P1hvOUGo13
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 28, 2019
When AOC received word of the letter that mentioned her by name, she took to Twitter to slam the company, saying she'd "be honored to go toe to toe" with Zoley.
And, in typical Ocasio-Cortez fashion, she deemed the "caging of humans for profit" as "immoral" and said the practice "should be outlawed."
If there‘s any CEO in the country that I’d be honored to go toe to toe with,the CEO of the largest for-profit private prison corporation would definitely be up there.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 28, 2019
Guess what, @GEOGroup: your entire business - the caging of humans for profit - is immoral & should be outlawed. https://t.co/72FoiSnpUs
This seems like one of those moments where AOC is upset just for the sake of being upset Her idea of going "toe-to-toe" with a company CEO is by tweeting to her millions of followers, not actually meeting with the guy. Not only that but it's unclear what she's upset over. Is it people have to have permission to come to America? Is it that people are detained for breaking our laws? Is it that a company is making profits off people breaking the law? What exactly is AOC unhappy about?
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