Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Instagram @aoc)
Jan. 13, 2021 By Christina Santucci
Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she feared for her life last Wednesday when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and forced her and fellow lawmakers into hiding.
She recounted her experience in an hour-long video posted to Instagram late Tuesday night.
Ocasio-Cortez said that she worried that she would be kidnapped or hurt and was concerned that some of her fellow congress members–some of whom she describes as white supremacists –would disclose where she was hiding during the ordeal.
“I, myself, did not even feel safe going to that extraction point because there were QAnon and white supremacist sympathizers – and frankly white supremacist members of Congress – in that extraction point, who I know and who I have felt would disclose my location and … who would create opportunities for me to be hurt, kidnapped, et cetera,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez’s account was harrowing.
“I had a pretty traumatizing event happen to me,” she said. “But I can tell you that I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die.”
“You have all of those thoughts where at the end of your life, and all of these thoughts came rushing to you, and that’s what happened to a lot of us on Wednesday,” she said.
On January 6, violent demonstrators breached the Capitol building as a joint session of Congress gathered to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win. Lawmakers and their staff were forced to hide, and the proceedings were adjourned for several hours before authorities could remove the intruders from the building.
“I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive, and not just in a general sense but in a very, very specific sense,” she said.
Federal law enforcement officials are working to determine if some of the rioters intended to capture or kill lawmakers or their staff, the Washington Post reported. Photographs of the mayhem depicted several demonstrators carrying zip ties, which are typically used as restraints.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated,” she said. “We were very lucky that things happened within certain minutes that allowed members to escape the House floor unharmed, but many of us narrowly escaped death.”
Since being elected to represent western Queens and parts of the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez has used social media frequently to connect with constituents and post videos showing her daily life as a member of Congress. She currently has 8.3 million followers on Instagram.
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7 Comments
As we learned earlier last week she was approximately half a mile away from the Protestors. Her fears may have been grossly exaggerated as she was not in imminent danger or in any harm however she was escorted by Capitol Hill police to a safe area and protected. Seems to be a great deal of sensationalism here to throw more fuel on a fire as per usual by her and her team.
She was nearly half a mile away from the protests and the Capitol Building when this occurred. Her account is grossly over-exaggerated or she has high anxiety / paranoid.
Toppling statues, burning cities, looting, rioting, vandalizing federal buildings is okay as long you’re doing it in the name of one party but if it is for GOP/Republican then it is frowned upon. The media and the politicians condemned one type of behavior but rooted for and bailed out others who engaged in the exact same behavior. The double standard is ridiculous.
I’m glad you are OK stay safe and continue what you’ve beed doing for all people.
Was she scared when Biden supporters burned and looted cities?
I we supposed to feel sad for an individual who did nothing but divide and fan the flames for the past several months? Rooting and cheering for rioters and looters, bailing them out or claiming they needed the money because of the pandemic… This is a huge farce and travesty. Our nation has elected hypocrites, incapable and unsuitable individuals based on metrics or parameters that are flawed.
Yet no mention of the fear, anxiety and concern citizens felt in every city under siege and on fire over the past nine months by BLM rioters/looters. No regard. No remorse. No comments on that from her. Odd.