Almost a month after supporters of President Donald Trump violently invaded the United States Capitol, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., recounted the experience from her perspective.
In a 90-minute video on Instagram Live, Oscasio-Cortez described the fear for his life while hiding in the bathroom of his office in the Cannon House Office Building, a part of the Capitol complex.
Days later, the second-term congresswoman resisted right-wing critics, who said she exaggerated the danger she faced during the rebellion.
“AOC wasn’t even in the Capitol building during its ‘near-death’ experience,” read a headline on RedState, one of several conservative websites that questioned Ocasio-Cortez’s account.
“AOC lied!” said another title. “She wasn’t even in the Capitol building during the rebellion … Her life was never in danger: report.”
Similar allegations of attacks on Ocasio-Cortez have surfaced in widespread Facebook posts, where they have been flagged as part of the company’s efforts to combat fake news and misinformation in its news feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
On Twitter, the hashtags compared Ocasio-Cortez to actor Jussie Smollett, who was indicted for false reports to the police and accused of staging an attack against himself.
Criticism also made the cable news. “There were no protesters in the hall (from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez),” said Fox News host Tucker Carlson. “Trump voters were not trying to kill her.”
Ocasio-Cortez maintained his comments and resisted online attacks. As she came and went on twitter with conservative activist and One America News Network correspondent Jack Posobiec, readers asked PolitiFact what was true and what was not.
It is true that Ocasio-Cortez was not in the main Capitol building, where the House and Senate chambers are located, when the rebels invaded. She was in the Cannon building.
But she never claimed in her video to have been in the main Capitol building, and the Cannon building was one of two buildings on the Capitol complex that she was forced to evacuate.
Ocasio-Cortez feared he “might die” when the police knocked on his door
In his Instagram Live video, Ocasio-Cortez said he had just hung up the phone with his team leader and was examining lunch options at around 1 pm when he heard “violent, huge knocking on my door”. It was like “someone was trying to break down the door,” she said.
At that time, protesters were already gathering outside the Capitol, but had not invaded, according to the schedules of USA Today, the Washington Post and the New York Times.
Ocasio-Cortez said he ran to his legislative director, Geraldo “G” Bonilla-Chavez, who told him to “hide, hide, run and hide”.
As she hid in the office bathroom behind the door, Ocasio-Cortez said she heard a man’s voice screaming from inside her office. “I just heard: ‘Where is she? Where is she? ‘”Ocasio-Cortez told his Instagram Live viewers. “And this is the moment when I thought it was over.”
“I mean, I thought I was going to die,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez said the person who called her was actually a Capitol Police officer who did not identify himself – a fact she did not know while hiding.
Ocasio-Cortez said the Capitol Police officer told her to move to another building. She said she could hear “all these rioters behind the glass in the door” while she and Bonilla-Chávez were looking for a place to shelter. She ended up squatting at Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., Who also detailed the experience on February 1, during an interview with MSNBC.
“I hoped that by this time, the building would have been breached and there would be people walking down the halls,” she said.
The attacks
Some sites that attack Ocasio-Cortez cited comments from Rep. Nancy Mace, RS.C. Mace tweeted on February 2 that rioters never reached the corridor she shares with Ocasio-Cortez.
Mace was talking about a story of Newsweek, who mistakenly reported that Ocasio-Cortez said the protesters entered her office. In her Instagram Live video, Ocasio-Cortez said she was startled by the knock on her door because she didn’t know he was a police officer.
“None of us knew at that time which areas were compromised”, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted February 4, after Mace shared a Fox News headline that used his comments to discredit Ocasio-Cortez.
The Cannon building was one of two buildings evacuated by the Capitol Police as pro-Trump protesters outside moved towards the Capitol, where they invaded just after 2 pm. It is part of the largest Capitol complex, which is connected by underground tunnels accessible to lawmakers.
Several legislators, including Mace, tweeted about evacuation In real time. “I just evacuated my office due to a nearby threat,” wrote Mace in his January 6 tweet posted at 1:45 pm Deputy Elaine Luria, D-Va., Said the evacuation was due to “a bomb reported outside . “
Capitol Police did not respond to PolitiFact’s inquiry into the evacuation. An FBI agent’s statement in support of an arrest warrant for a man accused in the rebellion said the evacuation was “in part because of a suspicious package found nearby”.
Bomb tubes were discovered on January 6 near the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. Both locations are just a few blocks from the Cannon building.
“They are manipulating the fact that most people do not know the layout (of) the Capitol complex,” said Ocasio-Cortez in a tweet. “We were all at the Capitol complex – the attack was not just on the dome. The bombs that Trump’s supporters planted surrounded our offices as well. “
A spokeswoman for the Congresswoman declined to comment further.
Ocasio-Cortez’s criticisms also downplayed the threat posed to lawmakers and the police by the Capitol crowd, as Snopes reported. Videos and photos show protesters fighting with the police, carrying handcuffs and guns with a zipper and shouting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
“Murder AOC”, a man facing charges tweeted hours after breaking into the building.
Four people died during the January 6 riot. A fifth, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, died the following day from the injuries he sustained. The Capitol Police Union said 140 policemen were injured.
• • •
Tampa Bay Times US Capitol Coverage
REACTING TO THE ANSWER: Did the race play a role in police handling the US Capitol crowd?
CALL TO ACTION: Charlie Crist: Remove Donald Trump from office by invoking the 25th Amendment
25th CHANGE: When can it be used against a president?
EDITORIAL: The ugly spectacle perfectly captured the Trump-era GOP.
CLASSROOM TOPICS: Tampa Bay teachers, parents prepare for tough talks after US Capitol siege
POLITIFACT – CHECK SIEGE: Here’s a look at the short session of the day and the chaos that interrupted it.
We are working hard to bring you the latest coronavirus news in Florida. This effort requires a lot of resources to gather and update. If you haven’t signed up yet, consider purchasing a print or digital subscription.