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In this image taken from video and provided by HuffPost, Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman calls for backup while an angry mob chases inside the US Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. A bright spot in all the chaos and anger from the crowd The siege of the US Capitol was Goodman confronting a crowd and stepping back, risking his life to perhaps save the US Senate. (Igor Bobic / HuffPost via AP)
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In this image taken from video and provided by HuffPost, Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman calls for backup while an angry mob chases inside the United States Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. A bright spot in all the chaos and Crowd Anger The siege of the US Capitol was Goodman confronting a crowd and stepping back, risking his life to perhaps save the US Senate. (Igor Bobic / HuffPost via AP)
In the week since a mob set up siege for the US Capitol, the House accused President Donald Trump. Dozens of people were arrested across the country for participating in the riots. Politicians and business leaders strongly condemn the violence. Twitter and other social media sites have banned Trump and thousands of other accounts.
Still, amid all the noise, a Capitol Police officer hailed as a hero for confronting the rebels and leading them away from the Senate chambers remained silent.
Officer Eugene Goodman is not saying whether he thinks he saved the Senate, as many of the millions who watched the video believe. In fact, Goodman is not saying anything publicly – either to reporters or on social media. And he asked the force union, employers, family and friends to help him maintain his privacy and not publicly discuss the events of January 6.
But the video speaks volumes.
Goodman, a black man facing an overwhelming crowd of whites, is the only policeman seen for a full minute of the filming by HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic. Goodman stands in front of the protesters, walks backwards until he reaches a folding stick on the floor and picks it up. “Back up … back up!” he shouts, keeping his eyes on the crowd. He turns and runs up the stairs, waving the baton, while the group follows him.
Goodman calls “second floor” on his radio, then takes a brief look and takes a half step to his left at the top of the stairs. Two chairs are on either side of the entrance to the US Senate House, just steps away. Dozens of protesters are right in front of him, with no other officers in sight.
Goodman pushes one of the rioters and goes to the right, away from the chamber. The crowd follows, and Goodman takes them to a room where other officers wait.
The video time is 14h14. The Senate interrupted its procedures to start cleaning the chamber at 2:15 pm.
Five died in the riots, including one of Goodman’s official colleagues. Legislative offices were destroyed, gallows were built outside and a video showed a woman shot to death while journalists, members of Congress and officials hid.
Goodman’s images spread across social media and news sites, a contrast to the bloody and confusing scenes elsewhere on Capitol Hill. People called him brave, impressive, effective. They dissected the video, guessing about their strategy and decision making.
But not all comments were kind. Retreating and fleeing is weak, some said. It was a staged photo opportunity, others claimed.
Goodman was silent. He did not respond to text messages and phone calls that the Associated Press left in potential numbers for him. The head of the Capitol Police union said only that Goodman did not want to speak to reporters. Spokesperson Eva Malecki said the Capitol Police are not giving interviews or discussing Goodman’s actions.
Public records shed some 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.
But that’s it. Goodman’s friends, family, friends he would have known in the armed forces, members of Congress and colleagues in the force, all begged for interviews about him. They say he wants to keep his privacy.
Online and in the public eye, Goodman is a hero. Many people, famous or not, have suggested that he won the Medal of Honor. A Republican and two Democrats in the US House presented a bill on Thursday to give him the Congressional Gold Medal.
“If it weren’t for Officer Goodman’s quick, decisive and heroic actions, the tragedy of last week’s insurrection could have multiplied in magnitude to levels never before seen in American history,” said Democratic US Representative Emanuel Cleaver II of Missouri .
But representatives did not respond to messages asking if they met Goodman. In a tweet promoting the bill, they show not a formal photo of Goodman in uniform, but an image of him facing the crowd – his eyes wide open, mask under his nose, staff behind him.
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AP news researcher Randy Herschaft contributed.
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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.