Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 12:29 pm
Officer Eugene Goodman, who saved lives during the Capitol insurrection, is currently escorting Vice President-elect Kamala Harris into the Capitol ahead of the inauguration.
What a wild two weeks for our country but especially for people like Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman.
On Jan 6, he put his life on the line when he lured insurrectionists away from Senators and staff.
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Two weeks later, he’s escorting VPE Kamala Harris into the US Capitol pic.twitter.com/zBKzQeJ3lR
— Yashar Ali 😠(@yashar) January 20, 2021
Goodman is the acting deputy Senate sergeant-at-arms and “has been elevated to serve as the No. 2 security official in the Senate for the inaugural events on Wednesday,” as noted by The New York Times.
Goodman’s quick thinking helped him divert the attention of insurrectionists who had attacked Congress in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which President-elect Joe Biden won decisively. Five people died in the attack, including a Capitol Hill Police officer who later died of his injuries. Insurrectionists acted at the behest of outgoing President Donald Trump, who sought to stop the electoral certification and had for weeks pushed the lie that the election was fraudulent. (There is no evidence of widespread election fraud.)
Goodman was widely praised after video footage of his actions went viral. Lawmakers have introduced legislation to award him with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
