WASHINGTON — Perhaps the most notable witness at Wednesday’s House Oversight committee hearing on gun reform was one who did not attend in person: Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old who survived the horrific mass shooting in Uvalde by smearing blood on herself and playing dead.
The committee announced Wednesday, before Miah was set to testify, that she would instead share her story via a prerecorded video, which played during the hearing. But some, including an expert on children’s health and trauma, questioned whether Miah should have testified at all.
Wendy Ellis, assistant professor and director of the Center for Community Resilience at George Washington University, said having Miah testify in person would’ve been too much — she hasn’t even had a month to process what happened, and testifying before Congress is daunting and stressful for the adults who do it, let alone a child experiencing trauma.
Ellis said while recording and presenting Miah’s testimony as a video probably helped lessen the immediate impact, she still had to tell the story again.
“Now certainly, taking out the performance elements of this, and not having to be in front of a roomful of strangers with cameras, lessens the immediate trauma impact,” Ellis told The Dallas Morning News Wednesday. “But every time she has to tell that story, that’s a retraumatization, particularly since this is such a new wound.”
Ellis said there’s an additional consideration when it comes to making anyone, especially children, the images from a traumatic event that could remain forever online and link them with the event for possibly the rest of their lives.
“Any time that she goes anywhere, her name is Googled, it’s always going to come up,” Ellis said. “The idea that perhaps that video testimony might be the most widely spread video of her in her entire life, no matter what she accomplishes, is something that we as adults really have to take in consideration.”
When it comes to dealing with the long-term effects of trauma, Ellis said the key to returning to normalcy and healing is feeling safe again. But for Miah, that might be easier said than done.
Miah said during her testimony Wednesday that she does not feel safe at school, and worries another shooting will happen.
“This was a prolonged period of time, it was an hour that she was under siege like this,” Ellis said. “That is going to fundamentally change what she considers safe ...There was no savior, no one was coming to save her, and in fact, she had to save herself. That is going to be something that will stick with her.”
Some Republicans also took issue with Miah testifying, using Ellis’ point about prolonging long-term trauma to criticize the party across the aisle for including her as a witness.
Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican on the Oversight committee, said during Wednesday’s hearing that the “most egregious thing that the Democrats did today” was to call Miah as a witness.
“They took a person — a young person, little Miah — who was traumatized two weeks ago, still suffering under obvious PTSD as she testified in that video, and bringing that poor little girl to relive this,” Biggs said.
The congressman went on to say that it’s “particularly pernicious and outrageous” to have Miah, who is still healing from bullet fragments lodged in her back and having nightmares, relive the terror of the attack.
“If we’re talking about PTSD, you just prolonged the agony of that little child,” Biggs said.
Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill., took issue during the hearing with Republicans accusing her party of using children as political props.
“Despite suffering unimaginable pain our witnesses wanted — wanted — to share their story, even the young lady,” Kelly said. “They have dared to hope that their trauma and heartbreak could be turned into something good. They are pleading with us to do our jobs.”
Gov. Greg Abbott directed Texas Health and Human Services Wednesday to ensure all children in Uvalde have access to mental health support services.
“As these families begin to rebuild their lives, it is essential that the children of Uvalde have access to mental health treatment,” Abbott wrote. “Although we cannot erase what happened in Uvalde, we can ensure, through the coordinated efforts of HHSC, TEA, and other organizations, that every child in that community gets the support they need.”
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