Wikipedia

Caroline Edwards

For the character from the show EastEnders, see List of EastEnders characters (2006).

Caroline Edwards (born 1991) is an American officer of the United States Capitol Police who is known for defending the Capitol building and its occupants during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. She was the first Capitol Police officer to be injured by the mob of rioters that day.

Caroline Edwards
Born1991
OccupationUnited States Capitol Police officer
Known forDefending the United States Capitol during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack
AwardsPresidential Citizens Medal

At the start of the attacks, Edwards was stationed on the West front of the Capitol. She signaled on police radio that her first responder unit needed help, and alerted other officers around the Capitol that the police were being overran by the mob. She was then pushed over with a bike rack by Ryan Samsel, and hit her head on a handrail, which gave her a concussion and made her lose consciousness; she awoke minutes later and continued her defense, engaging with the mob in hand-to-hand combat for hours. She testified about the attack to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack in 2022 and was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden in 2023.

Early life

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Caroline Edwards was born in 1991.[1] She is the granddaughter of a United States Marine who fought in the Korean War.[2] Edwards is from Atlanta, and attended the University of Georgia.[1] She graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree.[3]

Career

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Edwards joined the United States Capitol Police, which protects the Capitol building in Washington D.C., in 2017.[1] She was trained by officer Harry Dunn. She serves on the officers union board.[4] By 2021, she had worked on "hundreds of civil disturbances" to the Capitol.[5]

January 6 Capitol attack

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On January 6, 2021, supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes in the 2020 presidential election that would confirm Trump's opponent, Joe Biden, to be the next President of the United States. The attack began just before 1 p.m.,[6] when Trump finished speaking at Washington D.C.'s Ellipse park and his supporters who were listening started marching east towards the Capitol, including members of the Proud Boys militia group.[7] Capitol Police leaders knew of a threat to the Capitol but did not tell the stationed officers.[1] Edwards was 31 at the time of the attack.[8]

That day, Edwards had been stationed at the Peace Circle on the West front of the Capitol grounds, backed by four other officers in the first responder unit.[1][2] Her group, like other Capitol Police officers, had been trained for riots, but her group was not fitted with riot gear that day. A nearby school bus containing riot gear was available but was locked, and officers were unsuccessful at opening it.[1] Her group was also not behind a "universal fence" surrounding the building;[2] instead, she was stationed behind a series of bike racks in front of a series of stone steps.[1][9]

 
A picture from the beginning of the attack; Ryan Samsel (red) approaches a bike rack by which Edwards (left of farthest-left yellow box) is stationed[9][10]

Edwards was the first Capitol Police officer to be injured by the incoming mob once they reached the Capitol grounds.[2] At the beginning of the attack, a group of Arizona Proud Boys approached the Peace Circle barricade.[1][11] Edwards called for help on the radio, which was heard by other officers around the building and was a sign that the mob was overrunning the police.[4] She attempted to delay their approach towards the Capitol while backup was arriving.[12] Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs encouraged Ryan Samsel to approach the bike rack by which Edwards was posted. Samsel then pushed the back rack over, which hit her on the head.[1][9] This made her fall, and while falling, her chin hit the handrail of the steps behind her, causing a concussion which made her lose consciousness. She then hit the back of her head hit on one of the steps behind her, cracking it.[1][2][13][14] The concussion gave her a traumatic brain injury.[4] The mob then began attacking the other officers, who were pushed back.[1]

 
Edwards as she was unconscious on the stairs[9][10]

Edwards awoke minutes later[6] while she was being picked up by Samsel, and then she shook him off and began treating the injured on the scene, such as decontaminating those who were pepper-sprayed.[15][16] She then continued the defense, rushing to support the officers who had been pushed back and were holding a line in the Capitol's lower West Terrace.[1][14][15] She felt confused and dizzy while doing it.[17] She then engaged with the mob in hand-to-hand combat for hours.[2] While fighting, she was teargassed and pepper-sprayed in her eyes. She saw fellow officer Brian Sicknick be pepper-sprayed and become sick; he later experienced two strokes and died of natural causes two days later.[1][18][19] She later said that in her training she was taught to control riots but not to do hand-to-hand combat.[19] She later testified to Congress:[2]

“I couldn’t believe my eyes: There were officers on the ground. They were bleeding. They were 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 that as a police officer, as a law enforcement officer, I would find myself in the middle of a battle.”

— Caroline Edwards, [House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack]

The Capitol attack went on for four hours after Ryan Samsel's first assault.[20] Edwards stopped many rioters from entering the building;[8] at one point, she spotted a rioter heading towards an evacuation route for the Capitol's occupants, and handcuffed him, taking him to a prisoner processing section of the Capitol Police headquarters building. She then blacked out inside the building and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, because the hospitals in Washington D.C. were full. The hospital gave her a CT scan and put her in a neck collar.[17]

Aftermath

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Edwards temporarily left the force due to her injuries.[8] For months after the attack, Edwards was bedridden, and had episodes of vertigo, migraines, and fainting likely caused by the traumatic brain injury.[4][5][16] In February 2021, speaking as a member of the officers union, Edwards became one of the first Capitol Police officers to publicly criticize her department's lack of preparation for the attack.[1] In May 2021, Edwards returned to the Capitol Police force as a peer counselor for mental health.[21]

On June 9, 2022, Edwards testified to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack regarding her experiences during the attack.[2] Her testimony was paired with footage of the attacks not seen before in public, including of her being knocked unconscious.[22][21] As she was one of the first witnesses to testify in the committee's public hearings,[21] The Guardian wrote: "[Her testimony] showed viewers at home that the attack on the Capitol in Washington DC was not an accident, but rather an intentional effort to inflict violence."[19]

In 2023, Edwards was awarded the 2023 Dean’s Medal for Leadership Excellence from the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication for her "defense of the heart of American democracy".[3] On January 6, 2023, she and 13 other officers (3 of them posthumous) were awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden for their work in protecting the Capitol. The medal recognizes "citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country, or their fellow citizens".[23] As of October 2023, Edwards said she still has migraines from her brain injury and has to take monthly medication by injection.[17]

Samsel was arrested in January 2021.[24] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) discovered his identity by putting a picture of his face on January 6 into facial recognition software and receiving a match on his girlfriend's Instagram page.[25] In October 2023, Samsel went on trial, charged with assault on police with and without a dangerous weapon (a felony), obstruction of an official proceeding (a felony), and an act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings (a misdemeanor).[24] He had pled not guilty,[13] and Edwards testified against him and four other co-defendants during the trial.[26] Prosecutors argued that he was the catalyst for the rioting.[16] Samsel's lawyer, Stanley Woodward Jr., argued that "Those barricades didn’t fall because of anything Mr. Samsel did or was going to do" ... "They were going to fall… It’s not even remotely possible to pin the events of Jan. 6 on Mr. Samsel."[6] He also said that "bike racks are not a dangerous weapon".[16] The trial ended in December, and on February 2, 2024, Samsel was convicted of all of the charges.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jackman, Tom (June 10, 2022). "Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards recounts Jan. 6 'war scene'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Capitol Police officer injured in January 6 attack describes what she endured | CNN Politics". CNN. June 10, 2022. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "H.Res.403 - Commending United States Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards for her commitment, determination, and heroic service in defense of American democracy during the January 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol". Congress. May 15, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Broadwater, Luke (2022-06-10). "Caroline Edwards: The first Capitol Police officer injured in the riot has said, 'I've never experienced anything like it.'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  5. ^ a b "Capitol officer recounts Jan. 6 'war scene' in her testimony". AP News. 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  6. ^ a b c Roebuck, Jeremy (2024-02-02). "The Bucks County man behind the moment that kicked off the Jan. 6 Capitol riot convicted at trial". Inquirer. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  7. ^ "January 6 U.S. Capitol Attack| Background, Events, Criminal Charges, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  8. ^ a b c Beals, Monique (June 9, 2022). "Who is Caroline Edwards, the police officer testifying tonight on Jan. 6". The Hill. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "Jan. 6 Narrative Is Built on Trump, Proud Boys and Capitol Police - The New York Times". web.archive.org. 2022-06-12. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  10. ^ a b "United States Department of Justice Criminal Complaint against Ryan Samsel". United States Department of Justice. January 29, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  11. ^ "Who is Caroline Edwards and why did she testify in the Jan. 6 hearings?". PBS News. 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  12. ^ "Who are the witnesses testifying at the Jan. 6 hearings?". PBS News. 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  13. ^ a b "One of the first officers injured on Jan. 6 will testify in public House hearing". NBC News. 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  14. ^ a b Beals, Monique (2022-06-09). "Who is Caroline Edwards, the police officer testifying tonight on Jan. 6". The Hill. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  15. ^ a b Treisman, Rachel (June 9, 2022). "A Capitol Police officer injured on Jan. 6 recalls the chaos and carnage". NPR. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d Jackman, Tom (February 2, 2024). "Jan. 6 rioters who U.S. says 'ignited' path for Capitol attack convicted". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Filochowski, Jan, (born 27 April 1950), writer and speaker; Chief Executive Officer, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, 2012–13; Inspection Chair, Care Quality Commission; Adviser, Namibian Ministry of Health", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 2013-12-01, retrieved 2024-07-26
  18. ^ Kim, Noah Y. ""I was slipping in people's blood"". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  19. ^ a b c Levine, Sam (2022-06-10). "'It was a war scene': Caroline Edwards describes Capitol attack violence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  20. ^ Irwin, Lauren (2024-02-03). "Pennsylvania man seen as Jan. 6 instigator convicted on multiple counts". The Hill. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  21. ^ a b c Vaillancourt, William (2022-06-10). "'What I Saw Was a War Scene': Capitol Police Officer Gives Graphic Account of Jan. 6 Carnage". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  22. ^ Samuels, Brett (2022-06-10). "Caroline Edwards testifies Jan. 6 chaos was like 'a war scene'". The Hill. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  23. ^ Moore, Elena (January 6, 2023). "Biden honors police officers and election workers 2 years after the Capitol attack". NPR. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  24. ^ a b c "Proud Boys who led charge against police on Jan. 6 convicted of multiple felonies". Law & Crime. 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  25. ^ "Jan. 6 rioter who carried Trump 'Rambo' flag convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officer". NBC News. 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  26. ^ MacFarlane, Scott (2024-02-02). "5 Capitol riot defendants who led "first breach" on Jan. 6 found guilty at trial - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
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