What's False However, Ocasio-Cortez never claimed to be in the main Capitol building. When the attack on the Capitol began, Ocasio-Cortez was, as she stated, in her congressional office, which is located in a network of office buildings immediately surrounding the Capitol, and her office building was one of the two buildings that were evacuated. Origin In the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took to Instagram Live on Feb. 1, to relay her personal account of how the events of that day had traumatized her. One theme covered in her retelling of those events was how her past experiences with trauma, particularly surviving sexual assault, had compounded her fear during and after the Capitol riot.