I was in the hearing room during Edwards’ testimony, and like millions of people watching the hearing on television screens across the country, I hung on to her every word.
So, hasn’t the country already heard all this? Does America really need another recounting of the almost medieval combat that officers on the front lines of the fighting endured? The answer is absolutely yes.
It’s important that Americans see the hell depicted in the video footage to have a hint of an understanding of what law enforcement endured at the Capitol that day. It’s imperative that the country see how valiantly we fought to save our system of government. And it’s vital that the public understand just how close the country came to losing its democracy.
If the police hadn’t succeeded in holding back the protesters for as long as we did, giving our lawmakers and congressional workers the opportunity to get to safety, we might be led today by a very different — and illegitimate — government.
It’s been more than a year since January 6, 2021, and while the awful events of that day are etched in my memory, they might be vague in the public’s awareness. It was important for the select committee to take the American people back to the day of the insurrection and hear firsthand testimony from an officer on the outermost perimeter, who experienced the violence at the outset of that terrible event. And I think it’s important that the public and our lawmakers hear from as many officers and former police that were there on the ground that day as possible.
I know from my own past testimony on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of January 6 just how hard it must have been for her to appear before the committee. I’m proud of her for finding the courage to do it.
I believe it’s important that people hear what happened so that it’s not forgotten. And I think it’s important that posterity record the brutality of the attack and the malevolence of those who intended to overthrow our government.
What I’m really hoping at this point is that the Department of Justice is taking note. Those who sought to overthrow our democracy should be held accountable, and the select committee is methodically laying out the road map to bring them to justice.
And I think that the US Capitol Police leadership owes it to its officers and to the agencies that responded that day to assist to be transparent in their failures and also to show accountability.
At this point our country is so polarized, with people entrenched on their respective sides of the political aisle, that I can’t be sure how much the January 6 committee’s critically important work will break through. The hearings resume on Monday, and there will certainly be more gut-wrenching testimony.
Accountability for the treachery of January 6 rests mostly at the very pinnacle of our government. And the American public is not the only audience that the select committee is addressing in these hearings.
Just as the officers at the Capitol were the last line of defense on January 6, the Justice Department is the last line of defense for our democracy in making sure that those who are responsible for this affront to our democracy pay a steep price. As the committee resumes its work, I hope that the prosecutors will be listening closely.
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