Bill introduced to award Congressional medal to Capitol police officer who led rioters away from chamber
It’s one of the highest honors the body can offer a civilian.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A bipartisan group of Senators has introduced a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Eugene Goodman, a US Capitol police officer who single-handedly led a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber just moments before they breached the door during the 6 January attack on the Capitol.
It’s one of the highest honors the body can offer a civilian, and piggybacks on a similar effort from the House of Representatives earlier this month.
The Officer Eugene Goodman Congressional Gold Medal Act describes how the officer’s quick thinking “left an indelible mark on American history. The bill was introduced by senators Thom Tillis, Chris Van Hollen, Chris Coons, Sherrod Brown, and Ben Cardin.
“Officer Eugue Goodman’s selfless and quick-thinking actions doubtlessly saved lives and bought security personnel precious time to secure and ultimately evacuate the Senate before the armed mob breached the chamber,” the act reads. “By putting his own life on the line and successfully, single-handedly leading insurrectionists away from the floor of the Senate Chamber, Officer Eugene Goodman performed his duty to protect Congress with distinction, and by his actions, Officer Goodman left an indelible mark on American history.”
Officer Goodman delayed the approach of the mob, announced their location to other officers, diverted them towards addition waiting officers, buying time for senators to evacuate with minutes to spare.
The officer, who previously served in the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, was also honored with escorted vice president Kamala Harris at the inauguration, and made acting deputy sergeant at arms of the Senate, after top security officials resigned following the catastrophic breach that led to the Capitol attack.
While Mr Goodman is being honored for his service during the riot, others are being punished. Opening arguments in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial will begin in early February, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced on Friday.
Earlier in the week GOP senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz were the subject of an ethics complaint for their role in challenging the certification of the presidential election results on the day of the riot.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments