Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Award Hero Capitol Cop Congressional Gold Medal
Published
A number of Congressional representatives have introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to a Capitol Police officer who led a mob of rioters away from the Senate chamber during the January 6 riots.
The bipartisan group praised Officer Eugene Goodman for ‘his bravery and quick thinking during last week’s insurrection’.
Charlie Crist, one of the members who introduced the bill, hailed Goodman a hero.
‘The United States Capitol was under attack by armed, violent extremists, and Officer Eugene Goodman was the only thing standing between the mob and the United States Senate. I shudder to think what might have happened had it not been for Officer Goodman’s fast thinking and commitment to his duty and his country,’ Crist said.
Goodman’s efforts garnered widespread praise after video footage from the riots showed him strategically directing a mob away from the corridor that leads to the Senate. Lawmakers were convening in the chamber at the time to certify Joe Biden as the next US president.
In the video, Goodman confronts the man leading the group of insurgents. As the rioter looks towards the entrance to the Senate chambers, the officer pushes him away, before leading the group in the opposite direction.
A HuffPost reporter, Igor Bobic, who captured the scene, noted Goodman had led the group away at 2.14pm, just one minute before the Senate was sealed.
‘Just now realizing how much of a close call it was in the Senate. Literally seconds,’ he tweeted at the time.
The officer was recognised for his quick thinking, and even escorted Vice President Kamala Harris to the inauguration on January 20. In salute of his service on January 6, he has been named the Acting Deputy House Sergeant at Arms.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award given by Congress. In the past, it has been awarded to Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela.
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