A group of pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday accosted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her fiancé outside a movie theater in Brooklyn and demanded that she call Israel’s offensive in Gaza a ‘genocide.’

Video obtained by Fox News Digital shows the protesters, phones in hand, approaching the congresswoman outside the Alamo Drafthouse. 

‘You refuse to call it a genocide,’ one of the protesters can be heard saying, to which Ocasio-Cortez fires back: ‘I need you to understand that this is not okay.’ 

‘It’s not okay that there’s a genocide happening and you’re not actively against it,’ the protester says. 

‘You’re lying!’ Ocasio-Cortez shouts back. 

The video shows the protesters following her down the escalator, continually berating her for not labeling the war a ‘genocide.’ 

‘If you can’t say it, just say it. Literally. We’re just talking to you like normal people. Just say it’s a genocide. Just say it. Over 30,000 people are dead AOC, you can’t just say it for once?’ another protester shouts, citing figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. ‘Just say the word, that’s it. That’s all we want you to say.’ 

The protesters chase her and her fiancé, Riley Roberts, outside the building. At one point, Roberts pleads with the protesters to stop as they continue following the couple down the sidewalk. 

One of the protesters asks whether Ocasio-Cortez is concerned her comments would ‘go viral.’ 

A visibly angry Ocasio-Cortez tells the protesters that they’re going to clip the video so that her comments are ‘completely out of context.’ 

She then appears to concede that Israel’s actions constitute a genocide. 

‘I already said that it was. And y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t. Over and over again. It’s f—ed up man. And you’re not helping these people. You’re not helping them,’ Ocasio-Cortez says. 

The protesters, clearly unassuaged and dissatisfied with her answer, continue chasing the couple down the sidewalk. One of them mentions her past comments, condemning the Armenian genocide. 

‘Why won’t you say it in front of everybody, why us?’ 

Fox News Digital has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment. 

Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly condemned Israel’s retaliation after the Oct. 7 massacre, in which Hamas militants killed 1,200 civilians, injured hundreds more, and took around 250 hostages. 

She has called for a ceasefire and suggested the U.S. ‘conditioning aid, if not cutting aid to the Netanyahu government.’  

Just weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, Ocasio-Cortez accused Israel of committing war crimes, while qualifying that she was not defending Hamas. 

The White House on Monday lifted regulations on those working in close contact with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, no longer requiring a negative COVID-19 test.

The decision marks the end of one of the last remaining federal restrictions from the pandemic era.

The White House has pointed to changing guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a key factor in its policies surrounding COVID-19.

On March 1, the CDC officially dropped its recommendation for people to isolate themselves for five days after a positive COVID test.

The agency’s new guidance tells people to stay home if they are sick, but when they are feeling better and have been fever-free for 24 hours, they can return to school or work.

Prior to this most recent update, the CDC called for people who test positive for the virus to ‘stay home for at least five days and isolate from others in your home,’ a recommendation that was implemented in late 2021.

The contrast between the CDC’s rhetoric about COVID-19 during the pandemic and afterward has caused controversy among some.

In response to last week’s change in guidance, a community called LC/DC, which describes itself as non-partisan, is planning a protest at the Lincoln Memorial on March 15.

‘LC/DC is fighting to raise awareness about long COVID, and we recognize that reducing the isolation policy will result in more infections, long-term illnesses and disability,’ said Paul Hennessy, one of the three main organizers of the planned event.

The demonstration at Lincoln Memorial will take place on March 15 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

House Speaker Mike Johnson will host the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich – who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Russia for nearly a year – at President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Johnson’s office confirmed that Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich would be the speaker’s special guests.

‘I’m honored to host Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich for the State of the Union address,’ Johnson said in a statement.

By hosting Evan’s parents, Congress will shine a spotlight on the unjust detention of their son,’ he said.

The Republican speaker of the House said that the Biden administration ‘must bring Evan home.’

‘The United States must always stand for freedom of the press around the world, especially in places like Russia, where it is under assault,’ Johnson said. ‘The Administration must bring Evan home.’

Gershkovich’s parents have previously pleaded with the Biden administration to bring their son home.

‘We had President Biden’s promise to do whatever it takes, to bring Evan back. He also told us that he relates to us as a parent, he feels our pain, and his words are in my ears every single day. But it’s been 250 days and Evan is not here,’ his mother, Ella Milman, told Steve Doocy on ‘FOX & Friends’ in December 2023.

‘The efforts to do whatever it takes hasn’t been done,’ Milman said. 

March 29 is the one-year anniversary of Gershkovich’s arrest by Russian authorities on charges of espionage.

Gershkovich was detained March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy. 

The U.S. has long asserted that Russia’s allegation is ridiculous, as have his colleagues, who describe the American-born son of Soviet immigrants as a diligent reporter who is being used as a political pawn due to his high profile.

The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government vehemently denied the espionage allegations against Gershkovich and have called for his immediate release. 

His arrest was seen as a brazen violation of press freedom that not only poses widespread consequences for journalism and the media, but for governments and democracies everywhere, and part of a wider journalism crackdown by the autocratic Russian Federation.

‘He is definitely not a spy. That is an outrage. He is a reporter, he was there doing his job,’ Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said.

Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Democrat New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was charged by federal prosecutors with obstruction of justice in yet another superseding indictment unsealed on Tuesday relating to a multiyear alleged bribery scheme involving the Egypt and Qatar governments.

The 18-page indictment is wrapped into Menendez’s existing charges already against him and his co-defendants — including his wife, Nadine — for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.

The indictment comes after co-defendant Jose Uribe accepted a plea deal and agreed to cooperate last week. The charges on Tuesday also alleged Menendez committed conspiracy, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and wire fraud.

Prosecutors also state in the new indictment that Menendez instructed his lawyers to inform the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in 2022 about his awareness of businessman Wael Hana issuing a payment exceeding $23,000 for Nadine’s home mortgage and the money that Uribe contributed for her new luxury vehicle.

Menendez also allegedly advised his attorneys to disclose to the prosecuting office that he later discovered the funds were actually loans, when ‘In truth and in fact, and as Menendez well knew,’ the mortgage and car payments were made prior to 2022 ‘and they were not loans, but bribe payments,’ prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s indictment.

Menendez is also accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023.

Menendez, along with his wife and three New Jersey businessmen – Hana, Uribe and Fred Daibes – were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23. Hana, Daibes, Nadine and Menendez have pleaded not guilty.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Menendez’s office and his wife’s lawyer for comment.

Michelle Obama will not launch a bid for the White House amid rumors that the former first lady was eyeing a presidential run, according to her office.

‘As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,’ Crystal Carson, the director of communications for Obama’s office, said in a statement provided to ITK on Tuesday.

Obama supports President Biden and Vice President Harris, her office said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Obama’s communication team. 

Rumors of Obama’s candidacy came as questions about Biden’s mental capacity continue to swirl. The rumors began to circulate after some Republicans floated the idea that she could replace Biden on the November ballot. 

Some political commentators said the former first lady has the best chance of beating former President Trump, who is the leading candidate to secure the GOP presidential nomination. 

Biden is struggling with low poll numbers amid concerns from Republicans and some Democrats about his age and ability to lead the country. 

In 2019, Obama said there was ‘zero chance’ she would run for president. 

‘Just between us, and the readers of this magazine — there’s zero chance,’ Obama told Amtrak’s magazine The National. ‘There are so many ways to improve this country and build a better world, and I keep doing plenty of them, from working with young people to helping families lead healthier lives. But sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office will never be one of them. It’s just not for me.’

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is unveiling a new bill on Tuesday that would allow Americans to sue COVID-19 vaccine makers over adverse health effects allegedly caused by the shot.

The Let Injured Americans Be Legally Empowered (LIABLE) Act is aimed at wiping away COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers’ statutory protections, opening them up to civil lawsuits.

A summary of the bill obtained by Fox News Digital said, ‘The LIABLE Act will allow Americans who took vaccines that were misleadingly promoted and forced onto many Americans via federal mandates to pursue civil litigation for their injuries. These vaccines were given emergency use authorization unilaterally and did not go through the normal FDA approval process.’

Currently, manufacturers and health care providers responsible for distributing COVID-19 vaccines are mostly immune from civil lawsuits, even if those seeking money damages have medical proof of their vaccine-related injuries.

That’s because the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act of 2005 limits liability for the manufacturing, development and distribution of medical countermeasures related to a public health emergency.

The PREP Act also created the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), which has a one-year statute of limitations and only provides compensation in the event of death or serious injury. According to Roy, CICP has compensated people just 11 times despite thousands of claims lodged.

‘Millions of Americans were forced to take a COVID-19 shot out of fear of losing their livelihoods and under false pretenses,’ Roy told Fox News Digital. ‘Many have faced injury from the vaccine, but few have been afforded…recourse. To date, a mere 11 injury claims have been paid out despite nearly 700 million doses of the vaccine having been administered.’

Despite the public health emergency declaration for the COVID-19 pandemic expiring last May, PREP Act liability protections for the vaccine are expected to mostly last through the end of this year, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. 

Roy’s LIABLE Act would allow Americans claiming to be injured from the vaccine to retroactively sue manufacturers despite the aforementioned protections.

While credited with saving countless lives during the pandemic, the COVID-19 vaccine has also been blamed by critics for side effects such as blood clots, strokes and even sudden death. 

Many of these cases still require further study, but it’s a trend that’s alarmed Republican lawmakers who have long said mandating the COVID-19 vaccine is a violation of Americans’ right to privacy.

Andrew Powaleny, PhRMA spokesperson, criticized the bill in a statement to Fox News Digital.

‘COVID-19 has been a reminder of why we need safe and effective vaccines. All vaccines, including those for COVID-19, are subject to a rigorous safety and efficacy review process and post-market monitoring. By upending the existing liability framework manufacturers rely upon to provide predictable vaccine development, our ability to address future public health threats will be at risk,’ he said.

Roy has led the charge against those vaccine mandates, including leading efforts to roll back COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the U.S. military.

His latest bill has at least a dozen House GOP co-sponsors.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment.