WATCH: Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards gives opening statement in Jan. 6 committee hearing

Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards said in her opening statement June 9 before the House Jan. 6 committee that on the day of the attack and in the days that followed, she was called a number of names, including “Nancy Pelosi’s dog,” “incompetent,” “hero,” and “villain.”

“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,” Edwards said.

She recalled her grandfather, a marine who fought in the Korean War, and "would like to think that he would be proud of me, proud of his granddaughter that stood her ground that day and continued fighting, even though she was wounded, like he did, many years ago,” Edwards said.

“I am my grandfather’s granddaughter, proud to serve my country.”

The hearing June 9 was the first of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee in the coming weeks. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.

Edwards was the first witness to testify in a public hearing, along with filmmaker Nick Quested, who documented much of the violence that day.

The hearing June 9 was the first of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee in the coming weeks. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.

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