Video of this lone Capitol Police officer speaks volumes — even if he won’t
Since a mob laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, the House has impeached President Trump, dozens of people have been arrested over participation in the riot, and politicians and business leaders are loudly condemning the violence.
Yet, amid the uproar, a Capitol Police officer hailed as a hero for confronting the insurrectionists and diverting them from Senate chambers has remained silent.
Officer Eugene Goodman isn’t saying whether he thinks he saved the Senate, as many of the millions who have viewed the video believe. In fact, Goodman isn’t saying anything at all publicly — not to reporters, not on social media. And he’s asked the Capitol Police’s union, bosses, family and friends to help him maintain his privacy and not publicly discuss the events of Jan. 6.
But the video speaks volumes.
Goodman, a Black man facing an overwhelmingly white mob, is the only officer seen for a full minute of the footage, shot by reporter Igor Bobic of HuffPost. Goodman stands in front of the rioters, walks backward until he reaches a collapsible baton lying on the floor and picks it up.
“Back up ... back it up!” he yells, keeping his eyes on the mob. He turns and runs upstairs, waving the baton, as the group follows.
Goodman says, “Second floor,” into his radio, then takes a brief glance and half a step to his left at the top of the stairs. Two chairs sit on either side of an entrance to the U.S. Senate chamber, just a few steps away. Dozens of rioters are right in front of him, with no other officers to be seen.
Goodman shoves one of the rioters and walks to the right, away from the chamber. The mob follows, and Goodman leads them to a room where other officers wait.
The time on the video is 2:14 p.m. The Senate stopped its proceedings to begin clearing the chamber at 2:15 p.m.
Five people died in the riots, including one of Goodman’s fellow officers. Legislative offices were trashed, gallows were built outside and a video showed a woman shot dead while journalists, Congress members and staff hid.
In the wake of an attack on the U.S. Capitol, Congress seeks answers from a secretive Capitol Police agency.
Images of Goodman’s actions spread via social media and news sites, a foil to the bloody and messy scenes elsewhere at the Capitol. People called him brave, impressive, effective. They dissected the video, speculating about his strategy and decision making.
Not all the commentary has been kind. Backing up and running away is weak, some said. It was a staged photo op, others alleged.
Goodman has kept silent. He didn’t respond to text messages and phone calls left on potential numbers for him. The head of the Capitol Police union said only that Goodman didn’t want to talk to reporters. Spokeswoman Eva Malecki said the force wasn’t giving interviews or discussing Goodman’s actions.
Public records shed a little light on Goodman. He served in the Army as an infantryman for more than four years, leaving with the rank of sergeant in December 2006 after a year in Iraq. He has worked for the Capitol Police since at least mid-2009.
The head of the U.S. Capitol Police will resign effective Jan. 16, following the breach of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
But that’s about it. Goodman’s friends, family, buddies from the military, members of Congress and force colleagues all begged off interviews about him. They say he wants to maintain his privacy.
Online and in much of the public eye, Goodman is a hero. Plenty of people, famous and not, suggested he had earned the Medal of Honor. A Republican and two Democrats in the U.S. House introduced a bill Thursday to award him the Congressional Gold Medal.
“If not for the quick, decisive, and heroic actions from Officer Goodman, the tragedy of last week’s insurrection could have multiplied in magnitude to levels never before seen in American history,” said Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri.
But the House members didn’t respond to messages asking if they had met with Goodman. In a tweet promoting the bill, they show not a formal photo of Goodman in uniform but an image of him facing the mob — his eyes wide open, mask down below his nose, baton behind him.
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