Washington DC - Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she was a survivor of sexual assault. She made the revelation while recounting her distressing experiences during the January 6 storming of the US Capitol.

"I'm a survivor of sexual assault," the New York Democrat said during a one-hour Instagram broadcast, visibly fighting back tears.

"And I haven’t told many people that in my life. But when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other," the 31-year-old continued.

Her statement, viewed by a live audience of over 150,000 people, came in the context of her experiences since the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol on January 6.

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The congresswoman accused Republicans who have deflected blame for the violence at the Capitol, like Texas Senator Ted Cruz, of using "the tactics of abusers." Ocasio-Cortez has joined the ranks of numerous politicians and other public figures who have called on Cruz to resign.

She also denounced Chip Roy, a Texas congressman, for demanding she apologize to Cruz.

Ocasio-Cortez did not share details of the sexual assault, but she went on to give a gut-wrenching account of the horror she experienced during the January 6 riot. Among the most distressing aspects of the story was her memory of a man who came into her office unannounced, yelling, "Where is she?"

The Democrat said she had just returned to her office with her legislative director when they heard "huge violent bangs" on doors in the hallway as if "someone was trying to break the door down."

Since the man did not identify himself at the door, she thought he was part of the violent pro-Trump mob. She rushed out of her own office and sought refuge in her staffer's office, where she hid in the bathroom.

Hearing the repeated yells of "Where is she?" Ocasio-Cortez feared for her life. "I thought I was going to die," she said, visibly shaken.

Through the narrow gap in the door, she could see the man – who still had not identified himself – moving through her office. She recalled she had "never been quieter" in her entire life. "I held my breath," she said. "This was the moment where I thought everything was over."

She suffered several moments of pure panic before her staffer gave her the all-clear: the man who had yelled and banged on her door was a Capitol Police officer.

But the New York Democrat said her encounter with the officer "didn't feel right," as he had no partner present, nor did he identify himself. Instead, he looked at her with "anger and hostility."

The officer told Ocasio-Cortez and her staffer to "go down" to another building, she recalled. As they were running through Congress unescorted, they realized they had not been given a specific location. Hearing rioters threatening to breach the building, she and her staffer panicked trying to find a place to hide.

"I felt that if this was the journey that my life was taking, that, I felt that things were going to be okay, and that, you know, I had fulfilled my purpose," she said with a trembling voice.

They eventually found refuge with Representative Katie Porter, a California Democrat.

Ocasio-Cortez said those who have argued that it is time to move on from the events of that day were "using the same tactics of every other abuser who just tells you to move on."

As a self-described democratic socialist, dubbed one of the most prominent progressive leaders in the US, the congresswoman has often been a target of conservatives, including attacks by Republican men, some of them in Congress.

On Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter as a follow-up to her broadcast.

"My story isn’t the only story, nor is it the central story of what happened on Jan 6th," she wrote. "It is just one story of many of those whose lives were endangered at the Capitol by the lies, threats, and violence fanned by the cowardice of people who chose personal gain above democracy."