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Ocasio-Cortez Says She Is a Sexual Assault Survivor

“I haven’t told many people that in my life,” the Democratic congresswoman said of the revelation, which came during a harrowing recounting of her experiences amid the Capitol riot.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez disclosed the sexual assault as she recounted her experiences during the U.S. Capitol riot. Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York Times

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday said she was a sexual assault survivor, a disclosure she made during a strikingly personal and harrowing recounting of her experiences during the pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol last month.

“I’m a survivor of sexual assault,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, said during an Instagram Live appearance, her voice wavering with emotion. “And I haven’t told many people that in my life. But when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other.”

Speaking to an audience that numbered more than 150,000 for much of the video’s duration, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez walked viewers through the days leading up to the riot as well as the day of it, offering an extraordinarily candid and vivid description of one of the most turbulent moments in recent American history.

In gripping detail, she described how she had been forced to hide from the violent mob and to navigate a Capitol under siege, and how she feared for her life.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a frequent target of former President Donald J. Trump’s scorn during his time in office, recounted hearing a man’s voice yelling “Where is she?” while she hid in a bathroom.

Then came an unsettling encounter with the apparent source of that demand: a Capitol police officer who she said looked at her with “a tremendous amount of anger and hostility.”

She also recalled taking shelter in the office of Representative Katie Porter, Democrat of California, who was having a cup of coffee when a panicked Ms. Ocasio-Cortez came in, having already thought twice that day, she recalled, “that I was going to die.”

At one point, she appeared to wipe away tears.

“I felt that if this was the journey that my life was taking, that, I felt that things were going to be OK, and that, you know, I had fulfilled my purpose,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

Those who have argued that it is time to move on from the events of that day, she said, were “using the same tactics of every other abuser who just tells you to move on.”

They were the tactics, she suggested, “of that man who touched you inappropriately at work, telling you to move on.”

“Are they going to believe you?” she said. “Or the adult who, you know, if they hurt you when you were a child and you grow up and you confront them about it, and they try to tell you that what happened never happened.”

“This,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez added, referring to holding those responsible for what happened on Jan. 6 accountable, is about “basic humanity.”

The congresswoman has expressed support for women who have come forward with accounts of being assaulted. She spoke out forcefully against Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who faced allegations of sexual assault that he denied but that nearly derailed his confirmation.

But she has also addressed the complexities of allegations that have played out in other politically charged moments. She suggested last spring during the election that a woman’s allegation that President Biden had sexually assaulted her when he was a senator — an allegation he vigorously denied — was “not clear-cut.” At the same time, she also discussed more broadly the importance of listening to women who bring forth accusations in an interview on National Public Radio.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 31, whose district includes parts of the Bronx and Queens, has become one of the most prominent progressive leaders in the United States since defeating then-Representative Joseph Crowley in a stunning primary upset in 2018.

She is an influential voice in both city and national politics, and her endorsement is among the most sought-after among progressive candidates, though her positions have at times put her at odds with her party’s more moderate members.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez often draws intense, sometimes vitriolic, criticism from those on the right, and she has been a target of derision and attacks by some prominent Republican men in particular, including some of her congressional colleagues.

She has not shied away from confrontation.

After Ted Yoho, a Republican congressman from Florida at the time, reportedly used sexist language and expletives to confront her, she received an outpouring of support, including from some Republicans, as she jabbed back on Twitter. Mr. Yoho later expressed regret on the House floor for the tone of the exchange, though he disputed using some of the language that had been attributed to him. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez made clear that she believed he should be held accountable.

She characterized the initial exchange with Mr. Yoho as a “verbal assault,” adding that his subsequent explanation on the House floor was “not an apology.”

Just last week, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, suggested on Twitter that he was prepared to work across party lines with the congresswoman on the issue of the online brokerage app Robinhood’s imposing trading limits amid the GameStop frenzy.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s response to Mr. Cruz, who had embraced Mr. Trump’s baseless and false claims of election fraud, made clear that the violent rampage at the Capitol by supporters of Mr. Trump still felt raw.

“I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,” she replied to Mr. Cruz on Twitter. “Happy to work w/ almost any other G.O.P. that aren’t trying to get me killed.”

Toward the end of her Instagram Live appearance, she lashed out at Mr. Cruz and Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, who had baselessly challenged Mr. Biden’s victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania.

“We knew that violence was expected,” she said. “We knew that that violence was predicated on someone telling the lie, the big lie, about our elections.”

Late Monday night, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez sought to drive home her point in messages posted on Twitter.

“My story isn’t the only story, nor is it the central story of what happened on Jan 6th,” she wrote in one. “It is just one story 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.”

Katie Glueck is chief Metro political correspondent. Previously, she was the lead reporter for The Times covering the Biden campaign. She also covered politics for McClatchy’s Washington bureau and for Politico. More about Katie Glueck

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Ocasio-Cortez, Recounting Capitol Riot, Refers to Trauma of a Past Assault. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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