PoliticoAOC personalises insurrection, bringing up past sexual assault: ‘I thought I was going to die’
- Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez describes taking shelter during January 6 Capitol siege
- She used Instagram Live broadcast to criticise calls by some Republicans for everyone to ‘forget’ the attack
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Matthew Choi on politico.com on February 1, 2021.
US congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday offered a deeply personal account of the Capitol insurrection, denouncing Republican calls to move on from the event as akin to tactics used by abusers and opening up about her own history with sexual assault.
Via Instagram Live, the New York Democrat excoriated Republicans, including senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, saying they had encouraged the rioters by supporting former president Donald Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election, and accusing them of failing to take responsibility for their role. She said members of Congress were aware of the risks days before the attack, adding that some of her colleagues had warned her to be careful on January 6.
“These folks that tell us to move on, that it’s not a big deal, that we should forget what’s happened or even telling us to apologise, these are the same tactics as abusers,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “This is not about a difference of political opinion. This is about basic humanity.”
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”.