A video shared on X allegedly shows New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claiming that she was in the Capitol building during the insurrection attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. 

AOC thought that she was going to be rap*d and killed at the Capitol on January 6th.

AOC was not at the Capitol on January 6th. pic.twitter.com/Ra5t4J25O0

— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) October 15, 2024

Verdict: False

There is no evidence that Ocasio-Cortez said this.

Fact Check: 

A man pleaded guilty to using wasp spray on police officers and assaulting journalists during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, according to Newsweek. He has now become one of over 1,500 people charged with federal crimes in relation to the uprising, the outlet reported.

An X video alleges that Ocasio-Cortez incorrectly asserted that she was in the Capitol building during the attacks. “I didn’t think that I was just going to be killed,” she says in the video. CNN host Dana Bash asks her if she meant she feared rape, to which Ocasio-Cortez says yes. “AOC thought that she was going to be rap*d and killed at the Capitol on January 6th,” the post reads. “AOC was not at the Capitol on January 6th.”

This claim is baseless, however. The interview was done by CNN, who shared a clip of the interview to Facebook. Bash mentions at the 2:19 timestamp that Ocasio-Cortez was in her office in a building across the street from the Capitol connected by tunnels underneath.  (RELATED: Did AOC Receive $142,000 In Student Loan Forgiveness?) 

Ocasio-Cortez recorded an Instagram live recounting her experience, which was uploaded to YouTube. At the 48:33 timestamp, she says she was in her office during the attacks when a man came in, yelling, who later identified himself to be a Capitol police officer. Nowhere in the video does she claim to have been in the Capitol building.

An Ocasio-Cortez spokesperson referred Check Your Fact to a fact check from AP News via email.