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.
