PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A series of long-awaited public hearings will get underway Thursday about the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Four people from our area have pleaded guilty to crimes for their involvement in the riots. The Department of Justice said three are from Palm Beach County and another is from St. Lucie County.
Out of more than 800 people criminally charged, nearly 90 are from Florida.
RELATED: Florida top state for people charged in Jan. 6 attack on Capitol
"I was there, I was there when it happened. I had to barricade myself with another member for many hours while the insurrectionists paraded by," said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Florida.
Frankel called the insurrection a day the U.S. came dangerously close to losing its democracy.
"What it looks like is a scheme to stop the transfer of power," Frankel said.
In the weeks following the attack, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Florida, shared his reaction
"This is the most serious of things for us to undertake in Congress and it's to party two groups together to say that one person said or did something whether in one day or over months and caused other people to do something that was violent and unconstitutional," Mast said.
The night's first in-person witness was Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards.
Edwards suffered a brain injury after she was knocked down by rioters.
The committee is also expected to show recorded testimony from some of the 1,000 other key witnesses, but Trump allies have relentlessly blasted the hearings, slamming it as a partisan witch hunt.
Thursday's hearing the first in a series of at least six hearings regarding the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
