WATCH: 'Terrified' Christine Blasey Ford fights back tears as she testifies against Brett Kavanaugh out of ‘civic duty’

On Thursday, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate judiciary committee, describing in harrowing detail her alleged sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Blasey Ford started by assuring Senators that she had no motives beyond wanting to perform her public responsibility.

"I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified," she said. "I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school."

Blasey Ford explained how her life and Kavanaugh's had intersected decades before, when they were both students are exclusive private schools in the D.C. area.

"During my time at the school, girls at Holton-Arms frequently met and became friendly with boys from all-boys schools in the area, including Landon School, Georgetown Prep, Gonzaga High School, as well as country clubs, and other places where kids and their families socialized. This is how I met Brett Kavanaugh, the boy who sexually assaulted me," she told the judiciary committee.

She explained how in the summer of 1982, she'd attended a small gathering, after a day of swimming. She admitted that there are key details she does not recall, such as the exact location of the gathering or how she got there, but that the attack is burned into her memory.

"I don't have all the answers, and I don't remember as much as I would like to. But the details about that night that bring me here today are the ones I will never forget. They have been seared into my memory and have haunted me episodically as an adult," she said. She says she drank

"Early in the evening, I went up a narrow set of stairs leading from the living room to a second floor to use the bathroom. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was pushed from behind into a bedroom. I couldn't see who pushed me. Brett and Mark came into the bedroom and locked the door behind them," she said. Blasey Ford then chronicled her alleged assault from start to finish and explained the lifelong impact the attack had on her:

There was music already playing in the bedroom. It was turned up louder by either Brett or Mark once we were in the room. I was pushed onto the bed and Brett got on top of me. He began running his hands over my body and grinding his hips into me. I yelled, hoping someone downstairs might hear me, and tried to get away from him, but his weight was heavy. Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. This was what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. Both Brett and Mark were drunkenly laughing during the attack. They both seemed to be having a good time. Mark seemed ambivalent, at times urging Brett on, and at times he told Brett to stop. A couple of times I made eye contact with Mark and thought he might try to help me, but he did not.

During this assault, Mark came over and jumped on the bed twice while Brett was on top of me. The last time that he did this, we toppled over and Brett was no longer on top of me. I was able to get up and run out of the room. Directly across from the bedroom was a small bathroom. I ran inside the bathroom and locked the door. I heard Brett and Mark leave the bedroom laughing and loudly walk down the narrow stairway, pin-balling off the walls on the way down. I waited and when I did not hear them come back up the stairs, I left the bathroom, ran down the stairs, through the living room, and left the house. I remember being on the street and feeling an enormous sense of relief that I had escaped from the house and that Brett and Mark were not coming after me.

I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone these details.

You can watch video of her testimony below:

Part 1:

Part 2: