09/17/2025
An excellent article on January 6. And thank you for the endorsement of Kitty Felde’s novella “Losing is Democratic: how to talk to kids about January 6th.” Thank you, A Mighty Girl.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1205376948286642&id=100064430450013&mibextid=wwXIfr
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was the first of many law enforcement officers injured during the violent January 6, 2021 insurrection against the Capitol. While stationed at the Capitol Building, Edwards was assaulted when rioter Ryan Samsel pushed over a bike rack barrier, causing it to hit her head. The impact made her fall backward, striking her chin on a handrail and cracking her skull on steps behind her, resulting in a concussion that rendered her unconscious. Despite this traumatic brain injury, Edwards regained consciousness minutes later and continued defending the Capitol, engaging in what she later described as "hours of hand-to-hand combat."
Although Edwards was the first police officer assaulted by the violent rioters, she was far from the last -- 140 police officers were assaulted during the attack on the Capitol building. As one of his first acts as president when he was inaugurated on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump granted full pardons to all those convicted in the January 6 attack, over 1,500 rioters in total, including the 123 individuals charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to a police officer.
Among those pardoned was Samsel who had been convicted on all charges, including felony civil disorder and assaulting a police officer. The Department of Justice sought a 20-year prison sentence in their sentencing memorandum, describing how Samsel, who had previous multiple convictions for assaulting women, "was the first rioter to breach the restricted perimeter on January 6, 2021." Justice was never served, however, due to Trump's pardoning Samsel for his violent attack on Officer Edwards and his other crimes.
Born in 1991 in Atlanta, Caroline Edwards graduated cm laude from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a bachelor's degree in public relations. She joined the United States Capitol Police in 2017 and had worked on "hundreds of civil disturbances" prior to January 6, 2021. As a member of the first responder unit, Edwards had training for riots but was not equipped with riot gear on that fateful day. Edwards comes from a military family and has spoken about her grandfather who served as a Marine in the Korean War, saying she hoped "he would be proud of me, proud of his granddaughter that stood her ground that day and continued fighting, even though she was wounded."
In her testimony to the House January 6 Committee on June 9, 2022, Edwards provided a harrowing account of the violence she witnessed: "What I saw was just a war scene. It was something like I had seen out of the movies. I couldn't believe my eyes. There were officers on the ground. You know, they were bleeding. They were throwing up." She continued, "I saw friends with blood all over their faces. I was slipping in people's blood." Edwards also described seeing fellow officer Brian Sicknick looking "ghostly pale" after being sprayed with a chemical agent. Sicknick would later collapse and die following the attack.
Beyond recounting the physical violence, Edwards reflected on the emotional toll of being vilified for defending the Capitol. "I was called Nancy Pelosi's dog, called incompetent, called a hero and a villain. I was called a traitor to my country, my oath, and my constitution. In actuality, I was none of those things. I was an American standing face to face with other Americans asking myself many, many times how we had gotten here." For her heroism, Edwards was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Joe Biden in 2023. For months after the attack, she experienced vertigo and fainting spells, and was initially bedridden due to the severity of her traumatic brain injury. Even several years after being assaulted, she was still suffering from migraines due to her brain injury and required monthly medication to manage the ongoing effects.
In a deeply troubling indication of his priorities, Trump made pardoning the January 6 attackers one of his very first acts upon returning to office, signaling his willingness to absolve violent extremism in service to his own political interests above all else. Following Trump's mass pardons of January 6 defendants, former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell described the pardons as a "miserable" injustice that removed accountability from rioters who did "irreparable damage to our nation."
Similarly, police officers who were injured by the rioters condemned Trump's action as a "betrayal," with Gonell adding, "All this hard work, all these investigations, all the efforts to bring justice and accountability have been erased." In stark contrast to this betrayal of justice, Edwards' powerful testimony reflects her unwavering commitment to her country: "I am a proud American and I will gladly sacrifice everything to make sure that the America my grandfather defended is here for many years to come."
For a first-hand account by another police officer who was assaulted that day, we recommend "Hold the Line: The Insurrection and One Cop's Battle for America's Soul" at https://bookshop.org/a/8011/9781668007211 (Bookshop) and https://amzn.to/4mWOHY5 (Amazon)
For an excellent book for kids about the events of January 6th and the importance of respecting the electoral process, we recommend "Losing is Democratic: How to Talk to Kids About January 6th" for ages 7 and up at https://bookshop.org/a/8011/9798989493449 (Bookshop) and https://amzn.to/4e6KFbB (Amazon)
For powerful books for tweens and teens about girls living in real-life oppressive societies throughout history where rulers didn't respect the rule of law, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426
And for an inspiring book that looks at the long history of women in law enforcement through the stories of 16 real-life trailblazers, we recommend "Women in Blue" for teens and adults, ages 13 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-blue
Thanks to The Washington Post for sharing this image! To read more about her testimony in the WP, visit https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/10/capitol-police-caroline-edwards-jan6-attack-testimony/
For a refresher on just how violent the attack on the U.S. Capitol was on January 6, you can watch footage released by the Jan. 6 Congressional Committee at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=b3_O91gyj9o&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbs.org%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY
