gentleman from Wyoming, Ms.
Cheney, for questioning.
>> Thank you very much.
Officer Edwards, I want to start
by thanking you for your service
and courage.
Thank you for being here this
evening.
I know it is not easy to relive
what happened and for the
officers behind in the audience
this evening.
And to have a full accounting
and to understand what happened.
I want to start officer Edwards
with a short clip that shows the
horrible moment when you were
injured as the peace circle was
breached.
--
>> Usa!
Usa!
--
>> Officer Edwards, can you
describe the crowd that had
assembled at the peace circle
as0 you and your fellow officers
stood behind and guarded the
bike racks?
>> Yes.
There were about five of us on
that line.
There was our bike rack, and at
the bottom of the Pennsylvania
avenue walkway, by peace circle,
another bike rack.
The crowd had kind of gathered
there.
It was the crowd led by Joseph
BIGS.
And they were mostly in civilian
clothing.
There were some who had military
fatigues.
We could see people with
bulletproof vests on, things
like that.
They did not seem extremely
cohesive, but they had gathered
in their outfits.
But they had gathered together
and Joseph Biggs, had a
megaphone and he started talking
about --
first it was things related to
congress.
Then the tables started turning
once -- the Arizona group is
what you said.
The crowd with Orange hats came
up chanting -- antifa.
And they joined that group.
Once they joined that group,
Joseph Biggs' rhetoric turned
into the capitol police.
He started asking us questions
like you did not miss a paycheck
during the pandemic, mentioning
stuff about our pay scale was
mentioned, and started turning
the tables on us.
And I have worked -- I can
conservatively say probably
hundreds of civil disturbance
events.
I know when I'm being turned
into a villain, that is when I
turn to my sergeant and I stated
the understatement of the
century.
I said "Sarge, I think we are
going to need a few more people
down here."
So after that, I think they
started conferring.
They went silent, started
conferring among each other.
I saw the person now identified
as Ryan Sampson.
He put his arms around Joseph
Biggs and they were talking.
They started approaching the
first barricade.
They ripped the first barricade
down, and approached our bike
racks.
At that time, we started holding
on, grabbing the bike racks.
There were not many of us, so I
grabbed the middle between two
different bike racks.
I wasn't under any pretense that
I could hold it for very long,
but I wanted to make sure we can
get more people down and get our
cdu units time to answer the
calls.
So we started grappling over the
bike racks.
I felt the bike rack come on top
of my head.
And I was pushed backwards.
My foot caught the stair behind
me.
My chin hit the handrail.
And at that point, I had blacked
out.
But the back of my head clipped
the concrete stairs behind me.
>> And you were knocked
unconscious, is that right?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> But when you regained
consciousness, you returned to
duty?
>> Yes ma'am.
At that time, adrenaline kicked
in.
Iran towards the west front and
-- I ran towards the west front
and I tried to hold the line at
the senate steps at the lower
west terrace.
More people kept coming at us.
It just seemed like more and
more people started coming onto
the west front.
They started overpowering us.
That was right about when MPD's
officers showed up.
Their bike officers pushed the
crowd back and allowed our cdu
units as well as theirs to form
the line that you see, the very
thin line between us and the
protesters, or the rioters at
that time.
I fell behind that line.
For a while, I started
decontaminating people who had
gotten sprayed.
And treating people medically
who needed it.
>> And you were injured again
there on the west terrace?
>> Yes, ma'am.
After a while, I got back on the
line.
It was on the house side of the
lower west terrace.
I was holding that line for a
while.
There were not many of us over
there.
And officer sicknick was behind
me for most of the time, about
30 to 45 minutes, that I was
down there.
We were just doing the best we
could, grappling over bike
racks, and trying to hold them
as quickly as possible.
All of a sudden, I see movement
to the left of me.
I turned and it was officer
sicknick with his head in his
hands.
And he was ghostly pale.
I figured at that point he had
been sprayed and he was
concerned.
My cop alarm bells went off.
If you get sprayed with pepper
spray, you are going to turn
red.
He turned just about as pale as
a sheet of paper.
I looked back to see what had
happened, and that is when I got
sprayed in the eyes, as well.
I was taken to be decontaminated
by another officer.
But we did not get the chance,
because we were then tear
gassed.
>> And we are going to play a
brief clip of that moment you
just described, officer Edwards.
[Indiscernible]
>> I just want to thank you for
being here.
I know how difficult it is.
I know the family of officer
sicknick, who is here tonight,
and one of the things one of the
capitol police officers said to
me recently was to ask whether
or not as members of congress,
all of us understood on that day
when we were evacuated from the
chamber, were led to a safe,
undisclosed location where we
knew so many of you had rushed
out of the building and into the
fight.
I can assure you that we do know
that.
And we understand how important
your service is.
Thank you for your continued
work with our committee and the
interviews.
Thank you very much for both of
you for being here this evening.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
>> Thank you very much.
Ms. Edwards, can you -- give us
one memory of that awful day
that stands out most vividly in
your mind?
>> I can.
That time when I talked about
falling behind MPD's line, I
remember because I had been kind
of shielded away.
I was holding the stairs, so I
was not able to see what was
going on over here.
When I fell behind the line and
I saw -- I could just remember
my breath catching in my throat,
because what I saw was just a
war scene.
Like something I had seen out of
the movies.
I could not believe my eyes.
There were officers on the
ground.
They were bleeding and throwing
up.
I saw friends with blood all
over their faces.
I was slipping in people's
blood.
I was catching people as they
fell.
It was carnage, it was chaos.
I can't even describe what I
saw.
Never in my wildest dreams did I
think as a police officer, law
enforcement officer, I would
find myself in the middle of a
battle.
I'm trained to detain a couple
of subjects and handle a crowd,
but I'm not combat trained.
And that day, it was just hours
of hand to hand combat, of
dealing with things that were
way beyond any law enforcement
officer has ever trained for.
I just remembered that moment of
stepping behind the line and
seeing the absolute war zone the
west front had become.
>> Let me thank you for your
service and bravery.
That you have just told the
world about tonight.
It is unfortunate you had to
defend the capitol from fellow
Americans.
None of us would ever think that
would have to happen, but it
did.
Let me thank our witnesses for
joining us and sharing our
experiences with America.
Throughout my chairmanship of
this committee, I have
continuously vowed this
committee will ensure a
comprehensive account of the
heroic acts on January 6th, and
that we will follow the facts