“I can remember taking my breath away because what I saw was just a war scene. It was like I had seen it from the movies,” said Edwards, who was selected by the House Electoral Commission to investigate the US Capitol attack. that he was the first law enforcement officer to be injured by the rioters. “I could not believe my eyes: There were officers on the ground. They were bleeding. They were vomiting. I saw friends with blood on their faces. I was slipping in people’s blood. I caught people falling. It was a massacre. It was chaos. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would be in the middle of a battle.” she remembered. Edwards told the committee that there were “hours of hand-to-hand combat” and that there were “hours of dealing with things that were far beyond what any law enforcement officer has ever been trained for.” She described being proud of her job to “protect the symbol of American democracy” – and the vicious public scrutiny she suffered after suffering a traumatic brain injury during the attack. “I was called a lot of things on January 6, 2021 and in the days that followed,” he said. They called me a traitor to my country, my home and my constitution. “In fact, I was not one of those things.” “I was an American who stood face to face with other Americans and asked myself how many times – many, many times – how we got here. I was called in the past, but my patriotism or duty was never confirmed.” , he added. Referring to herself as “the proud granddaughter” of a veteran Marine who had fought in the Korean War, Edwards said: “I am a proud American and I will gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that America who defended my grandfather here the next years”. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Mississippi Democrat, thanked Edwards for her service after her testimony, saying: “Your heroism in the face of danger is admirable and your willingness to serve despite your injuries should be an inspiration to all of us”. The union, which represents U.S. Capitol police officers, on Thursday praised Edwards for her testimony and called to account those high-ranking Capitol police officers who remained in office after the uprising. The officers who were on duty on January 6, the union said, “paid a terrible price and some of these injuries are so serious that the officers will never return to service and will live in pain for the rest of their lives.” “We need responsibility, starting with our own leaders,” the union said in a statement. “Make no mistake, the breach of the US Capitol was a failure of our leadership, as described in the Senate report earlier this year. “They could have killed her.” CNN’s Whitney Wild and Clare Floran contributed to this report.