Insurrectionists arrived in town starting on Monday. That day, as I exited the Capitol, a crowd of Trump supporters were gathered directly behind my car. All there was to protect myself and other members of Congress was a waist-high fence.
My heart was beating fast. They were yelling insults my way. I tried to lighten the mood to create enough space for me to drive away and get out of there.
Later that day, I went to the grocery store and saw all these people in MAGA hats. It felt tense. And, I guess it felt like - whether you're from the Bronx, New York City, Queens, or wherever - you can just catch a vibe and kind of know a general sense of when things aren't right. And things started to feel "not right" when I was in that grocery store that Monday night.
By Tuesday, 24 hours before the events on January 6th, I had already resolved that I wouldn't go back outside except to vote. Myself and other members asked about security plans, and we were told that it was being handled by Capitol Police and couldn't be shared.
Fast forward, Wednesday, January 6: At 12:45pm, my chief of staff called me and asked how I was feeling. In that moment, I was feeling great - Rev. Warnock and Jon Ossoff had just won. I was on cloud nine. It took a weight off my shoulders - and I hoped maybe it would take the wind out of the sails of the growing mob outside the Capitol.
Shortly after we hung up, I heard violent bangs on my office door and all the doors into our congressional office. My legislative director - G - told me to hide. I ran into the bathroom - then quickly realized I should have gone to the closet instead. When I opened the door to move, I heard that someone had already gotten into my office. It was too late. Then, they started to yell: "Where is she?" "Where is she?" "Where is she?"
This is the moment I thought everything was over. As a spiritual person, I thought: if this is the plan for me, people - you all - would be able to take it from here. I felt that things were going to be okay and that I had fulfilled my purpose.
Peaking through the hinges of the door behind which I was hiding, I saw a white man with a black beanie come into my direct office. He continued to ask, "where is she?" "where is she?" Finally, I heard G follow him and say "Boss, it's OK to come out."
The man in the black beanie was a Capitol Police officer - he was alone with no partner, and I never heard him identify himself as Capitol Police or anything. We weren't sure if he was there to help us or hurt us. He was looking at me with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility.
Yelling, he told us to go to a different building where all Members would be extracted - not providing the room number or any other exact information on where in the building that extraction point was. Still, we started running. Alone with no escort and no specific location, we could hear the rioters outside. Not knowing where to go, I ran to find the offices of members I knew in the building. After running up and down the stairs, googling frantically to find room numbers, I eventually found Rep. Katie Porter's office and asked if we could shelter with her.
She welcomed us in, and we started searching for where we could hide. We pushed couches against the door. I found clothes and sneakers to change into in case I needed to run, jump out of a window, or blend in with a crowd. We turned off all the lights.
Shortly after we finished barricading ourselves, we received intelligence that bombs were found not far from where we were. We discussed what we'd do if the building exploded. Staffers were making decisions to put their lives on the line to save us.
When I finally learned the location of the extraction point, I didn't feel safe going there, knowing that some Republican members were live tweeting the locations of the Speaker and others. I knew the National Guard hadn't been called. We were in Rep. Porter's office for hours.
After the building was secure, I walked over to Rep. Pressley's office where she and her staffers made sure I was fed. We were at Ayanna's office until 4am as Congress finally proceeded with voting to certify the electoral college. There are more details to share at some point, but not today.
Rep. Pressley told me that night that what I experienced was traumatizing. Hearing her say that, it forced me to pump my brakes. If you have experienced any type of trauma, just admitting and recognizing it is already a big step. The moment you admit that a thing happened to you is hugely important.
I look back on this and Ayanna really helped my healing. Telling your story is an important tool for healing, which is why I'm telling mine. Together, we have 435 stories and we need to tell them because every time a Republican gets on television and tells us to forget, these stories are reminders of what they're trying to absolve.
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