By Tom Hals
(Reuters) – A police officer is being hailed for his role steering an angry mob away from the Senate chambers in Wednesday’s deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.
Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, identified by CNN reporter Kristin Wilson, can be seen getting rioters to move away from the Senate as police raced to secure the chamber.
In the confrontation, Goodman puts himself between a man wearing a black T-shirt for the QAnon conspiracy movement and a hallway leading to the Senate chambers, then shoves the person to induce him and the crowd to chase Goodman toward officers in the opposite direction.
Capitol Police did not respond to a request regarding the identify of the officer.
“As trump’s fascist mob ransacked the US Capitol, this brave USCP officer kept murderous rioters away from the Senate chamber and saved the lives of those inside. God bless him for his courage,” U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell wrote in a Twitter message on Sunday.
Trump, who has sought unsuccessfully to overturn his Nov. 3 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, falsely claiming widespread fraud, had called on supporters gathered in Washington to protest the congressional counting of electoral votes certifying Biden’s victory.
Five people including a Capitol Police officer died as a result of Wednesday’s rioting and dozens of people have been charged.
Among the mob who stormed the Capitol were individuals who waved Confederate flags and wore clothing carrying insignia and slogans espousing white supremacist beliefs.
The efforts by Goodman, who is Black, gave police the time needed to race to lock the doors to the Senate chamber, according to the Washington Post.
Several members of Congress with military experience, including Ruben Gallego and Jason Crow, have also been praised for calming frightened colleagues and helping with the evacuation during the chaos.
The chief of the Capitol Police resigned following the attack and a federal prosecutor said he would charge any Capitol Police member found to be complicit.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney)
