A Capitol police officer who witnessed the January 6 insurrection first hand gave dramatic testimony during the first public hearing of the January 6 House select committee on Thursday.
Speaking before the panel on Thursday, officer Caroline Edwards recounted how she was “slipping in people’s blood” as chaos engulfed the Capitol when a mob of Donald Trump descended in an attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election win.
“It was carnage. It was chaos. I can’t even describe what I saw,” she said.
Ms Edwards was one of two witnesses to the attack who testified at the first hearing. She is also believed to be the first officer to sustain injury on 6 January 2021. While she tried to hold the crowd behind a barricade, they pushed and knocked her unconscious and she suffered a traumatic brain injury.
She also spoke about her pride in her job to “protect America’s symbol of democracy” and the vicious public scrutiny she endured following the attack.
“I was called a lot of things on 6 January 2021 and the days thereafter,” said Ms Edwards. “I was called Nancy Pelosi’s dog, called incompetent, called a hero and a villain. I was called a traitor to my country, my home, and my Constitution. In actuality, I was none of those things.”
“I was an American standing face to face with other Americans asking myself how many time -- many, many times -- how we had gotten here. I had been called names before, but never had my patriotism or duty been called into question,” added Ms Edwards.
“I am my grandfather’s granddaughter, proud to put on a uniform and serve my country,” said Ms Edwards.
“They dared to question my honor. They dared to question my loyalty. And they dared to question my duty. I am a proud American, and I will gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that the America my grandfather defended is here for many years to come.”
The first of the six public hearings highlighted the findings of the panel’s investigation, which included interviews of more than 1,000 people about how a mob organised and stormed the Capitol building and the events that followed.
During Ms Edwards’ testimony, a clip from bodycam footage showed the officer being pushed by the rioters to the ground, making her hit her head on the Capitol’s steps.
Some other videos at the hearing included birds-eye-view footage from security cameras that showed the massive size of the pro-Trump mob as it began storming the Capitol, overnumbering the police.
In one video, a rioter was seen reading a tweet from Mr Trump on a megaphone where the former president was criticising Mike Pence for announcing that he would not overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The committee’s montage showed a widely shared clip of Trump supporters chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” They also showed a photograph of a makeshift noose and gallows that the rioters erected near the Capitol.
Another clip showed rioters screaming “Nancy! Nancy!” as they entered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, searching for her.
The clips left members in a state of horror as several of them came out of the hearing in tears, shocked by the magnitude of events that unfolded that day.
