WASHINGTON D.C., DC — As the nation marked two years since the Capitol insurrection, President Joe Biden recognized the dark date by recognizing the heroic efforts of 12 individuals. Three of those individuals were women with ties to Georgia.
Learn more about the honorees who were recognized at the White House on Jan. 6.
Ruby Freeman
In 2020, Ruby Freeman was an election worker who persevered by simply doing her job through those who tried to overturn the election that threatened her and her family, the Biden administration said.
Known as "Lady Ruby," Freeman was vocal about the harassment she experienced following the 2020 election, namely by then-President Donald Trump and his allies.
She volunteered with her daughter, Shaye Moss, on Election Day 2020 and was one of the workers at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The fateful event launched them into the crosshairs of the most powerful man in the world as he sought to overturn Georgia's election results and remain in office.
Freeman had detailed to media outlets how she suffered threats of lynching and racial slurs, even visits by strangers to her home. She revisited the hurt and pain the attacks caused during her testimony to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
"I've lost my name, I've lost my reputation, I've lost my sense of security - all because a group of people starting with No. 45 (Trump) and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter Shaye, to push their own lies about how the presidential election was stolen," Freeman said.
At the White House on Friday, her determination and bravery were honored with a handshake from President Joe Biden and a medal.
Shaye Moss
Freeman's daughter, Shaye Moss, also received an award for her work through the threats and harassment received during the election period. Moss also received the 2022 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award, authorities said.
Moss and her mother were thrown into a dizzying harassment campaign by President Donald Trump and his allies in the wake of the 2020 election. Moss was among the small handful of people who stayed late at State Farm Arena in Fulton County counting ballots into the early morning after most workers, observers and media members had left due to a misunderstanding about whether counting was done for the night.
"I felt horrible, I felt like it was all my fault, like if I would have never decided to be an elections worker - I could've done anything else, but that's what I decided to do - and now people are lying, and spreading rumors and lies and attacking my mom," Moss said during her testimony to the Jan. 6 House Committee in June.
Moss is no longer an elections worker. Two years later, her efforts in one of the most memorable elections in the nation led to President Joe Biden awarding her with one of the highest honors a citizen could receive.
Caroline Edwards
Caroline Edwards, who is from Atlanta, was among the 12 people recognized for her bravery on Jan. 6, 2021.
Edwards is an Atlanta native and a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia. She was a Capitol Police officer at the time of the insurrection and was the first officer to get injured during the riots as the protestors stormed the building. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and shed "blood, sweat, and tears" while trying to fend off rioters.
Edwards was also one of the first to publicly testify during a televised hearing from the House Jan. 6 Committee.
"I was called a lot of things on Jan. 6, 2021, and the days thereafter. I was called Nancy Pelosi's dog; called incompetent; called a hero -- and a villain," she said in her opening statement in June. "I was called a traitor to my country, my oath, and my Constitution -- in actuality, I was none of those things."
Edwards took a deep breath and with fervor continued her statement.
"I was an American, standing face-to-face with other Americans asking myself how many times, many, many times how we'd gotten here," she said. "I'd been called names before, but never have my patriotism or duty been called into question."
Two years later at the White House she was publicly and nationally called a hero.