AOC Didn't Lie About Capitol Experience
The Claim
Note: Due to reader request, this fact-check is a continuation of one we previously conducted on AOC's experience at the Capitol riots.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not in the Capitol building during the riots.
News posted on
Emerging story
On an Instagram Live feature, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described her experience during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
Some on social media pushed back, accusing her of lying about her actual location during the riots.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has discovered that according to USAToday.com, AOC explained that during the time of the Capitol riot she was in her office in a neighboring building on the Capitol complex, where she experienced a frightening encounter with a Capitol police officer who she said did not identify himself. Her recounting of where she was during the riot led to some on social media accusing her of lying and even generating the hashtag #AlexandriaOcasioSmollett.
AOC’s office is located across the street (Independence Ave.) from the U.S. Capitol building. So while she was not in the Capitol building, the rioters would have been just across the road from her building. In her account of the day’s events, she describes a Capitol police officer going door to door in her building trying to secure staff inside the building, knowing a dangerous, and what would later turn deadly, riot was close by.
U.S. Representative Nancy Mace posted a challenge to AOC’s account on Twitter. However, as verified by Fox News, AOC never said that insurrectionists were storming the Cannon building where she was located.
While AOC was not inside the Capitol building during the riots, she was in her office across the street, which is part of the Capitol complex and connected to the main building by tunnels. Based on the transcript of her Instagram Live story, the map of the Capitol complex, and police evidence, AOC did not lie about her location in her recounting of the day’s events.
