AOC Goes Vegetarian For Lent In Honor Of Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin's Late Son Tommy
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has gone vegetarian for Lent this year in honor of Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin's late son Tommy.
"A few weeks ago I told Rep. Raskin that this year I wanted to adopt a vegetarian diet for Lent in memory of his son Tommy," AOC tweeted Wednesday.
Ocasio-Cortez said Raskin told her, "Well you'd have to do it the way Tommy would, which means bring people along with you!"
So the New York congresswoman asked her Twitter followers if anyone wanted to join:
- Does anyone want to join me? Rules are 1) No judgement 2) Make it your own (you can go full 40 days, just veggie Mondays, etc 3) Be inclusive (no need to observe Lent to join)
- Please comment w your favorite veggie recipes below! I would like to avoid 40 days of Easy Mac
- If neither of the above apply but you are in a position to give or help others in this time, please consider doing so in the spirit of Tommy. He loved the world so much and dedicated his life to reducing suffering around the world.
Tommy Raskin, 25, took his own life late last year after battling depression. He was a second year student at Harvard Law School. He ate a vegan diet.
Statement of Congressman Jamie Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin on the Remarkable Life of Tommy Raskin: https://t.co/tBJdK29g6B
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) January 4, 2021
Raskin revealed during the impeachment trial they came because they wanted to be with him in the middle of a "devastating week" for their family. He said they had told him that they had heard President Trump was calling on his followers to come to Washington to protest, and that they asked him whether it would be safe.
"I told them, 'Of course it should be safe, this is the Capitol,'" he said, taking a long pause after this statement.
He said he would never forget the sounds of the "pounding on the door," and that his chief of staff and Tabitha and Hank locked and barricaded themselves in an office, hiding under a desk, sending what they thought could be their final texts and whispered phone calls.
"They thought they were going to die," he said.
Lent is a Catholic observance between Ash Wednesday and night before Easter Sunday.
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