Christine Blasey Ford says she decided to come forward after reporters were sitting outside of her house and showing up in her classroom where she taught

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Christine Blasey Ford prepares to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC.

• Christine Blasey Ford said she decided to come forward and reveal herself as the author of a letter with sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh because reporters were sitting outside of her house. 
• "Reporters were sitting outside of my home and trying to talk to my dog through the window to calm the dog down," Ford said while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 
• Ford in her opening statement said she was "terrified" to be speaking publicly about the allegation but felt it was her "civic duty."

Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday said she decided to come forward and reveal herself as the author of a letter with sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh because reporters were sitting outside of her house and showing up in the classroom where she teaches.

As Ford was testifying on the alleged assault before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking member on the committee, asked how she decided to come forward.

"Ultimately, because reporters were sitting outside of my home and trying to talk to my dog through the window to calm the dog down. And a reporter appeared in my graduate classroom and I mistook her for a student, and she came up to ask me a question. ... At that point I felt like enough was enough."

She said her colleagues at Stanford University were getting contacted about the allegations and that "clearly" people knew her address since they were sitting outside of her home. 

"The mounting pressure seemed like it was just time to say what I needed to say," Ford added. 

Ford had wanted to remain anonymous, something she made clear during her opening statement. 

"I am terrified. 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," Ford said. 

As prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, to whom many Republican senators deferred their questions, began questioning Ford, she apologized to the California professor. 

"The first thing that struck me from your statement this morning is that you're terrified, and I'm very sorry," Mitchell said.