‘I thought I was going to die’: AOC personalizes insurrection, bringing up past sexual assault

During the social media event, which attracted more than 160,000 viewers, Ocasio-Cortez also disclosed that she was a survivor of sexual assault — an experience that, she said, made her “struggle with the idea of being believed.”

“How I felt was: Not again,” she said. “I’m not going to let this happen again.”

Republicans have been deeply divided in the wake of the Capitol attack, and mistrust across the aisle has been at near unprecedented highs in modern history. Democrats have openly expressed fear for their safety around some members of the GOP, and Republicans continue to battle out the future direction of their party after 10 of their House members voted to impeach Trump following the insurrection.”

Ocasio-Cortez used the live stream to re-up her calls for senators and House members who supported Trump’s challenges against the election results to resign. But if Republicans have been feeling any personal responsibility for the insurrection, they have yet to show it — a point the progressive congresswoman likened to abusive behavior.

“We cannot move on without accountability. We cannot heal without accountability,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And so all of these people who want to tell us to move on are doing so at their own convenience.”

What they are saying is that “‘I would do it again. I don’t regret it at all.’” she continued. “If that’s their stance, they continue to be a danger for their colleagues.”

Spokespeople for Hawley and Cruz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ocasio-Cortez also spoke in detail about how she encountered hostile crowds in the days leading up to the Jan. 6 insurrection, saying she often felt unsafe walking in public. She also described the day of the attack, at times choking up when she recalled hiding in her office as someone appeared to break in.

At one point, she described a man in a black beanie banging on her office doors and screaming, “Where is she?” As she hid in her office bathroom, she said, the man entered her personal office.

“I just thought to myself that they got inside,” she said. “I really just felt like, if this is the plan for me, then people will be able to take it from here.”

“I thought I was going to die,” she continued.

The man turned out to be a Capitol Police officer, but she said that the experience left her shaken and that the officer engaged in a “hostile” manner with her. She also said he gave her vague instructions on where to seek shelter, resulting in her and her staff wondering where to go.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After concluding her live stream, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter — where her Instagram appearance was trending — and wrote that her “story isn’t the only story, nor is it the central story of what happened on Jan 6th.“

“It is just one story of many of those whose lives were endangered at the Capitol by the lies, threats, and violence fanned by the cowardice of people who chose personal gain above democracy.”

Source:Politico