Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reveals she’s a survivor of sexual assault as she recounts hiding in bathroom during Capitol riots

Michael Howie2 February 2021

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed she is a survivor of sexual assault as the congresswoman told how she feared for her life during last month’s US Capitol riots.  

In an emotional broadcast, the high-profile Democrat publicly disclosed the assault and compared Republicans who call for people to move on from the deadly violence to abusers.  

Ms Ocasio-Cortez revealed how she hid behind a bathroom door in her office in the Capitol complex as supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building. Five people including a police officer died in the mayhem, while dozens of others were injured.  

“The reason I’m getting emotional in this moment is because these folks who 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 of abusers,” the 31-year-old said.

“And I’m a survivor of sexual assault and I haven’t told many people that in my life.”

Describing the events on January 6, she said she was inside her congressional office with a member of staff when they heard “huge, violent bangs” on the door. The staffer, her legislative director Gerardo Bonilla Chavez, told her to “run and hide”, so she ran into the bathroom.

“I thought I was going to die,” she said. “I have never been quieter in my entire life.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans who dismiss the violence of ‘using the tactics of abusers’
AP

When she emerged she discovered the banging was from a Capitol police officer, who told her to evacuate to a nearby building.  

She eventually took refuge in the office of fellow congresswoman Katie Porter, where staffers pushed furniture against the door as they braced themselves for an attack.  

“We start hearing the yells of these people … and it just feels like it’s a matter of seconds when these doors are going to break through and they’re going to get in,” she said.  

“I’m preparing for one of the wings of the building to explode,” Ms Cortez added. “We’re sheltering and I’m thinking what do we do if the building explodes? ... What do we do if they break in?”  

The two congresswomen later moved to another colleague’s office, where Ms Ocasio-Cortez stayed until around 4am.

The New York politician, known to her fans as AOC, is among the Democrats calling for Republicans who encouraged and repeated Mr Trump’s lie that he had won the November 3 presidential election to resign.

“These are the tactics of abusers, this is not about a different of political opinion, this is about basic humanity,” she said.

“We are not safe with people who hold positions of power who are willing to endanger the lives of others if they think it will score them a political point.”

Later she tweeted that her story was “one 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”.

Mr Trump is facing his second impeachment trial in the US Senate next week after being charged by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives with “incitement of insurrection” over the attack.  

The 74-year-old delivered a speech outside the White House on the day of the riots, calling for supporters to “fight like hell” against the election he falsely said had been stolen from him.  

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