Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Oxio Cortez today (Tuesday) revealed a sensitive detail from her past and said she was a victim of sexual assault.
In a video in which she recounted her experiences from breaking into the Capitol last month, Oxio Cortez first revealed that she had been sexually assaulted in the past. “The reason I talk about it and the reason I react very emotionally is because the people who tell us to ‘move on’ or apologize, in response to events in the Capitol, use the tactics of the abusers, and I know this because I am a victim of sexual assault.”
Oxio Cortez did not elaborate on the previous attack and did not say when and how it occurred. “I have not told this to many people in my life. But when we go through trauma, it connects to other traumas you have experienced in the past,” the congresswoman said during an Instagram broadcast.
Oxio Cortez continued to tell her story of what she went through during the break-in at the Capitol Building. “Some people came to my office and started banging hard on the fuel as they shouted ‘Where is she?’
“I thought I was going to die,” the congresswoman said. “I held my breath and thought it would be the moment when it was all over.” After meeting with officers, Oxio Cortez escaped the building through an emergency exit “I grabbed my bag and ran as fast as I could,” she said.