‘I thought I was going to die.’ AOC describes harrowing experience during Capitol riot

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she feared for her life during last week’s siege on the U.S. Capitol.

The Democrat from New York took to Instagram Tuesday night to describe her experience during the attack, in which a mob in support of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol as Congress convened to certify the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Rioters tore through police lines and laid siege on the building last Wednesday. They broke into the U.S. Senate chamber and reached the doors of the U.S. House of Representatives — delaying the certification for hours as lawmakers were evacuated from both chambers and taken to an undisclosed location by armed guards.

Ocasio-Cortez said many members of Congress and congressional staffers were “almost murdered.”

“As for myself I had a pretty traumatizing event happen to me, and I do not know if I can even disclose the full details of that event due to security concerns,” she said. “But I can tell you that I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die.”

She went on to say she didn’t know if she was going to “make it to the end of that day alive.”

Other members of Congress have described their experiences during the violent attack.

“I’m sheltering in place in my office. The building next door has been evacuated. I can’t believe I have to write this,” Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat from Michigan, tweeted Jan. 6.

”I am in the House Chambers. We have been instructed to lie down on the floor and put on our gas masks,” Rep. Dan. Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, tweeted. “Chamber security and Capitol Police have their guns drawn as protesters bang on the front door of the chamber.”

Ocasio-Cortez said on Tuesday it’s “not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated.”

“It’s just not an exaggeration to say that at all,” she said. “We were very lucky that things happened within certain minutes that allowed members to escape the House floor unharmed.”

The congresswoman has faced threats against her before.

She previously spoken out about receiving death threats, The Washington Post reported in 2019, and her staff has been trained to assess potential threats from visitors.

Ocasio-Cortez has also expressed support for Trump’s impeachment and removal from office following the attack on the Capitol, which some lawmakers from both parties have in part blamed on the president’s rhetoric surrounding the election and his unfounded claims of voter fraud.

The House is expected to vote Wednesday to impeach the president for “incitement of insurrection.” It’s unlikely, however, that the Senate will convict and remove Trump from office.

This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 11:11 AM with the headline "‘I thought I was going to die.’ AOC describes harrowing experience during Capitol riot."