@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:12pm

Live-tweeting: Ready for Congresswoman Sofia Ortiz to speak on tech privacy abuse in New York’s Washington Square Park. Huge crowd, lots of chanting, lots of signs. Intersections blocked, traffic at a standstill.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:28pm

Still waiting. No sign of her yet.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:29pm

Want more on Ortiz? Check out my full profile of the first-term New York congresswoman in the online magazine The Fort. tinyurl.com/yxl8mpdo

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:39pm

Here she is. Cheers are deafening. Ortiz wasting no time working up the crowd. “We’re here to tell Big Tech that WE own our personal data, not them, and we’re taking it back!”

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:43pm

Ortiz confirming what my source told me last week. She’s accusing tech companies of covering up a massive data hack. Source unknown, could be foreign. “Affecting nearly every American.”

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:46pm

Ortiz now calling for expansive new federal regulations and oversight. “Biggest change to privacy laws in a generation.” Says tech giants have proven they can’t be trusted.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:47pm

Crowd really getting riled up. People spilling into the street, some confrontations with cops. Ortiz is asking for peaceful protest—WAIT—OMG!!!!!!!

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:48pm

ORTIZ SHOT!!!!!! CONGRESSWOMAN ORTIZ HAS BEEN SHOT!!!!!

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:50pm

Ortiz is down twenty feet away from me. Blood everywhere. It’s pandemonium. Crowd charging the stage. MORE GUNFIRE! GUNFIRE IN THE CROWD!

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 4:52pm

Have to move. Not safe here.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 5:21pm

Riot!! Guns, bottles, knives being used as weapons. I can see two bodies in the street and eight cars on fire. Looting, too, numerous store windows broken.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 5:32pm

STAY AWAY from the Washington Square area.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 5:41pm

Anarchists leading the violence, masks over their faces. Not sure where they came from. Police nowhere close to getting this under control. Have to move again.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/9/20 5:56pm

Police rounding up everyone on the street. Mass arrests, including yours truly. Anyone got bail?

@abbeylaurent_ 4/10/20 7:05am

Okay, I’m out. Got my phone back. Update: Five confirmed dead from last night’s riot, area still locked down. Congresswoman Sofia Ortiz killed from a shot to the throat by a sniper. FBI calling it an assassination.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/10/20 8:35am

My source telling me there is a suspect in the Ortiz assassination. NOT in custody, location unknown, armed and dangerous.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/10/20 8:37am

Suspect is ex-government operative gone rogue, believed to be part of a radical anarchist group. No identity yet, just the code name Cain.

@abbeylaurent_ 4/10/20 8:38am

Who is Cain?