I was minding my own business, walking up the steps.
[He] put his finger in my face.
He called me disgusting, he called me crazy,
he called me out of my mind, he called me dangerous.
In front of reporters [he] called me,
and I quote, “a fucking bitch.”
All of us have had to deal with this in some form,
some way, some shape, at some point in our lives.
I have waited tables in restaurants.
I have ridden the subway.
I have walked the streets in New York City,
and this kind of language is not new.
It’s just another day, right?
Yesterday, [he] decided to make excuses for his behavior,
and that I could not let go.
I could not allow my nieces, the little girls that I go home to,
I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse
to see our Congress accept [that excuse] as an apology.
I could not allow that to stand.
[He] mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters.
I am someone’s daughter too.
It happens every day in this country.