Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards gave a scathing testimony during Thursday’s opening hearing. of Jan. 6 Special Committee Investigating 2021 U.S. Capitol Riots Describes Violence Perpetrated by Supporters of former President Donald Trump in stopping words.
“There were officers on ground, they bled, they were throwing up”, Edwards said. “I saw friends with blood is all over their faces. i slipped in people blood”.
Edwards told the committee that she collapsed during the riot but continued to try to hold the line. against rioters when she was poisoned with tear gas.
“It was a massacre. It was chaos,” she continued. “Never in my wildest dreams i thought that as a cop i would find myself in middle of a battle”.
Edwards stated that during the riot, whose supporters of Trump started in attempt to block certification of Electoral college vote proof of Joe Biden’s victory in in the 2020 election, she saw Brian Siknick, a Capitol police officer. who suffered two strokes and died of natural causes a day after he confronted the rioters, looking “ghostly pale”.
Right after deadly rebellion, which in of death of five people in event or soon after and left 138 police officers were injured, numerous Republicans condemned the violence and seemed to distance themselves from Trump’s ongoing efforts to fight the election.
“All I can say is take me outSenator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said. “Enough is enough.”
“Seat of our first branch off of our federal government was stormed by criminals who mistreated the police and used force try to stop Congress from doing its job,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. of Kentucky said in statement issued after the uprising.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas called the riots “violent acts of terrorism.” attack on Capitol”.
However, with the passage of time, condemnation has largely disappeared, and many in in party seemed to understate the seriousness of incident or what prompted him to take place.
“We are ashamed of nothing,” spokesman Matt Gaetz said. of Florida said in podcast interview with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon notes one-year Anniversary of riot. “We are proud of in work what have we done on January 6, to make a legitimate case for the integrity of the elections.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Florida, who also appeared on podcast, took take aim at the Democrats and the FBI for seeks to blame and punish those who broke into the Capitol and force legislators who participated in the elections results to retire.
“They are good when changing modes and how are you doing it? you put it down out in a perfectly executed plan, and that’s what they did. They are want disqualify us … they want to use committee on January 6,” Greene said.
On Wednesday the Washington commanders football coach Jack Del Rio told reporters: “I see images on TELEVISION. People’s livelihood destroyed businesses are burned down – No problem. And then we have a fight on the Capitol, nothing burned down down … and we’re going to make it a big deal.”
Edwards, however, said that over-party drift of country took she and the other officers at the Capitol were taken by surprise.
“I often called of things on January 6, 2021 and beyond. My name was Nancy Pelosi. dog is called incompetent, called a hero and villain”, she told the committee. “I was called a traitor to my country, my oath and my Constitution. In fact, I was nobody of these things. I was an American face to face with other Americans, asking themselves how many times, times, how did we get here?
— Dylan Stableford contributed reporting.
