▶ Watch Video: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recalls her harrowing experience during Capitol riot
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she is giving up meat for Lent this year, and she’s doing it to honor the late son of one of her colleagues. Rep. Jamie Raskin’s son, Tommy, died by suicide late last year.
“Ok everyone, I need help! A few weeks ago I told @RepRaskin that this year I wanted to adopt a vegetarian diet for Lent in memory of his son Tommy,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
“Jamie said, ‘Well you’d have to do it the way Tommy would, which means bring people along with you!’ So, I have 3 requests,” she continued, adding her three requests.
Firstly, she wanted others to join in and said the rules to do so are: No judgement, make the challenge to eat vegetarian your own, and be inclusive. The second request was that people share their favorite vegetarian recipes. “I would like to avoid 40 days of Easy Mac,” she wrote.
Shortly after tweeting about her vegetarian quest, countless twitter users replied with links to their favorite recipes.
Ocasio-Cortez’s third request was that those who are not going vegetarian, but are in a position to give, “consider doing so in the spirit of Tommy.”
“He loved the world so much and dedicated his life to reducing suffering around the world,” she wrote.
During Lent, Christians fast or give something up for 40 days as repentance ahead of Easter.
The New York congresswoman recently mentioned her friendship with Raskin following the Capitol riots in January. On an Instagram live, Ocasio-Cortez said she and others feared for their lives during the siege.
“Many children — children of members of Congress — children were there,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She described Raskin as her close friend and mentioned that he had lost his son “tragically” just days before the attack. “His daughters were with him in the Capitol, days after that trauma, and they nearly lost their lives too,” she said.
Tommy Raskin, a second-year student at Harvard Law School and a graduate of Amherst College, died at the age of 25.
“Tommy was pure magic. His brilliance and compassion knew no bounds. He passionately loved his family, friends, and animals, and was devoted to the cause of the global poor. We are devastated and demolished to be without him,” his family said in a statement shared by Raskin.
