AOC on Instagram Live: Recounting Jan. 6 attack details draws more than 160K viewers
"Anyone who tells you we couldn't have seen this coming is lying to you. There were so many indications of this leading up to this moment."
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, is spending time Monday night talking to her followers on Instagram live.
AOC just broke into tears on Instagram live and said she’s a survivor of sexual assault, and the Republicans telling her to “just move on” from the attack on the Capitol, in which her life was threatened, are using abusers’ tactics.
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 2, 2021
As she was talking about the events of January, she shared the fact that she is a survivor of sexual assault.
More: AOC IG account
Then she laid out the fact that people knew violence was coming on Jan. 6. Members of Congress, trying to help her, sent messages as early as the Thursday before Jan. 6 that they expected bad things to go down as the Congress moved to certify the Electoral College results of the November election.
Drinkin' beer and watching #AOC's Instagram live. Basically taking a master class in responding to abuse and fear with grace and humor.
— RoxiLea (@roxi_lea) February 2, 2021
AOC just came out as a survivor of sexual assault and pushed through her tears to seamlessly draw comparison to the systematic abuse of the Right Wing. *That* is a warrior. Thank you, @AOC. 💔 pic.twitter.com/AcFSATXrGU
— Fran Tirado (@fransquishco) February 2, 2021
If you can, literally drop what you’re doing and watch #AOC’s live and hear things straight from her. This is important, I promise.
— kylie m m (@exposedmidriff) February 2, 2021
Her account of the day of Jan. 6 starts as she heads back to her office after getting a COVID vaccination shot.
More: 'Almost had me murdered': AOC slams Cruz for his efforts to overturn the election
.@AOC talking about being a sexual assault survivor—i think previously unknown widely—and how being "asked to move on" without justice being served is essentially telling a rape victim to put up and shut up. On @instagram Live
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) February 2, 2021
"I hear these huge violent bangs on my door... like someone was trying to break the door down. And there were no voices, no yells, no one saying who they were .... just boom, boom, boom."
She ran over to the legislative office to her staffer, and he said, "Hide, hide, run and hide."
AOC went to a back area of her office and jumped into her bathroom and closed the door.
Terrifying IG Live via @AOC saying that she was getting texts the Thursday before the insurrection from other members warning her to be careful.
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) February 2, 2021
Then, she realized that whoever was banging had made it into her office.
"Where is she?! Where is she?!"
She showed her audience on Instagram how she hid behind her door.
"This was the moment where I thought everything was over," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I thought I was going to die."
Okay so yes you should be watching the AOC livestream
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) February 2, 2021
This was one of the most heartbreaking moments of AOC’s IG live pic.twitter.com/BumKbriwmy
— grant 🧔🏻 (@urdadssidepiece) February 2, 2021
She cried as she recounted the mob hunting for her, as the number of people watching the live IG story grew to almost 150,000 people.
Ocasio-Cortez came out of the bathroom when her staffer called her. And there was a white Capitol Police officer there who didn't identify himself, she said.
But she said there was no partner and the cop was acting strange — hostile.
"Maybe I am reading into this," she thought. "Maybe I am just projecting this onto him."
Her followers shared an outpouring of support for the Democratic Congresswoman.
Someday I will tell my kids that I watched AOC share this on Instagram live, said one follower in the comments.
Ocasio-Cortez explained how they ran to a new location, down a spiral staircase and trying to get into a fellow member's office — and was not able to get in right away. So she backtracked to California U.S. Rep. Katie Porter's office.
Porter let her in.
What @AOC is revealing right now is just... insane that it got to this point.
— John Iadarola (@johniadarola) February 2, 2021
More: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thought she 'was going to die' in Capitol riots
They got gym clothes and put them on to try to blend into a crowd if necessary. She wore someone's puffy jacket. "All these crazy thoughts go into your mind," she said. "Are some offices safer than others because they have white-sounding names or male names... all these crazy things you are thinking. This is what it has come to."
Through all of it, it was traumatizing to think about the brave staffers and others who were willing to protect members of Congress, she said.
This @AOC @RepAOC Instagram Live video on the U.S. Capitol insurrection is riveting, shocking, stunning and sad. Those folks would have definitely tried to kill her and other Democrats.
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) February 2, 2021
On her IG Live broadcast, Ocasio-Cortez said a lack of trust between Democrats and Republicans also has created a volatile atmosphere in Congress. One where fear is real.
"There's a lot more details... about being barricaded," she said, but wasn't sure what she was allowed to share.
They started to grow even more concerned when no one came to save them, the National Guard wasn't there and they had very little information.
She said they were stuck there about five hours.
"I didn't feel like I was OK or secure in that day in any way. ... We didn't know what was going to happen."
More: Mitch McConnell condemns Marjorie Taylor Greene's 'loony lies,' defends Liz Cheney
Rep. @AOC on the Capitol insurrection: "I thought I was going to die."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 2, 2021
She also talked about the doubt you put onto yourself after you are a survivor of violence.
Admitting that you are doing that, or feeling shame, is an important first step to healing.
"Even in the aftermath of this whole situation, I have had to check my own thoughts. Part of me was like, maybe I shouldn't share this," because it's not central to the insurrection main story or people will think she is making it about her.
But it is vital to tell your story.
"Sometimes you just say it a lot. That can be a tool for helping a person with healing," she told her thousands of supportive followers on social media.
People who despise @aoc because of her politics will be inclined to say she’s lying or being manipulative or dramatic. It’s obvious to any other human watching this that she honestly feared for her life during the Capitol insurrection
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) February 2, 2021
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: AOC on Instagram Live: Recounting Jan. 6 attack details draws more than 160K viewers