Back in the U.S., Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has opened up about being a sexual assault survivor, and traumatic memories that resurfaced on January 6, when a violent mob incited by President Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol. In a powerful Instagram Live video broadcast Monday, Ocasio-Cortez said she hid in the bathroom of her Capitol Hill office fearing for her life as a man barged in repeatedly shouting, “Where is she?” The man turned out to be a Capitol Police officer who had not identified himself. Ocasio-Cortez says she and a staffer were unsure whether the officer was there to help them or hurt them. She says she ultimately ended up barricaded in the office of California Congressmember Katie Porter with furniture pushed up against the doors. Ocasio-Cortez said she decided to share her story after Republican colleagues asked her to forget about the insurrection and move on. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “The reason I say this, and 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 apologize, these are the same tactics of abusers. And I’m a survivor of sexual assault. And I haven’t told many people that in my life.”