Ford detailed the party where she said she was assaulted, naming other people who she said were there. They included Kavanaugh, Mark Judge and a boy named “PJ,” as well as a female friend, Leland Keyser, she said.

At one point when they were upstairs, “Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them. There was music playing in the bedroom,” and Kavanaugh and Judge turned up the volume, she said.

Kavanaugh then groped her and tried to take off Ford’s clothes, including her one-piece bathing suit, she said. “I believed he was going to rape me,” she said, saying she thought that Kavanaugh was “going to accidentally kill me.”

She was able to get out and leave the room, Ford said.

“I did not want to tell my parents,” said Ford, who was 15 years old at the time. “I convinced myself that because Brett did not rape me, I should just move on.”

Throughout her statement, Ford read from prepared remarks. With her voice cracking at times, Ford told senators how she came to tell her story despite deep reservations about going public.

“I believed that if I came forward, my voice would be drowned out by a chorus of powerful supporters” of Kavanaugh, she said.

The response to her allegations, Ford said, has been worse than she imagined, and she described in vivid terms how her family has faced threats and been forced to relocate from its home.

“I have been called the most vile and hateful names imaginable. These messages, while far fewer than the expressions of support, have been terrifying to receive and have rocked me to my core,” she said.

Ford forcefully defended herself, saying she is not motivated by politics.

“I am a fiercely independent person and I am no one’s pawn. My motivation in coming forward was to provide the facts about how Mr. Kavanaugh’s actions have damaged my life, so that you can take that into serious consideration as you make your decision about how to proceed.”