She said she saw a man wearing a black beanie through the door hinge and, as he continued to yell for her, "I thought I was going to die."
After emerging from her hiding spot, Ocasio-Cortez and her legislative director realized the man was actually a Capitol Police officer. He didn't identify himself as such and "was looking at me with a tremendous amount of anger and hostility," she said.
Told to leave the building but not given a specific destination, Ocasio-Cortez said she and her legislative director were searching for where to go and could hear rioters just outside.
She and her legislative director ended up barricading themselves in Rep. Katie Porter's office, where staff pushed furniture up against the doors. In case they needed to run outside, she and Porter rummaged through staffers' things to find workout clothes to wear to better blend into the crowd in case they needed to go outside.
She said she remained in Porter's office for several hours until the Capitol was secured.
Conservatives on social media have cast doubt on Ocasio-Cortez's account, saying she was not in the Capitol Building itself during the attack and that her office was too far away for her to have been scared for her life.
Social media posts with the hashtag #AOCLied and some Republican lawmakers said she was exaggerating and using the story to politicize the Capitol attack.
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