Mike Pence’s narrow escape thanks to Capitol officer Eugene Goodman revealed in new video
Impeachment trial managers show previously unreleased surveillance footage from inside Capitol
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House impeachment managers showed previously unreleased security footage from inside the US Capitol during the 6 January insurrection, including footage of former Vice President Mike Pence and his family evacuating the US Senate chamber from an adjoining office, as another video shows Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman leading a mob away from the chamber doors.
In another video, Officer Goodman also can be seen directing Senator Mitt Romney to safety as he ran to respond to a breach.
Impeachment managers prosecuting former president Donald Trump in his Senate impeachment trial compiled a video timeline using surveillance footage from inside the Capitol building and other videos to recreate the assault, as a joint session of Congress presided over by Mr Pence convened to formally count the results of the 2020 presidential election on 6 January.
Officer Goodman – who was also on duty at the Capitol on Wednesday – steered a mob away from Senate chambers shortly after insurrectionists in tactical gear, including at least one person carrying a baseball bat, while others carried flagpoles, broke through windows on the Senate side of the Capitol.
Read more: Follow live updates from Trump's impeachment trial
Once inside, they screamed: "Where are they counting the votes?”
In another video, Officer Goodman says: “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.”
"You know how close you were to the mob," Congressman Eric Swalwell told Senators, who are acting as jurors in the former president's second impeachment trial. "You were just 58 steps away."
Senator Romney told reporters during a break in the trial on Wednesday night that he was not aware that Officer Goodman was the officer who directed him to safety, nor was he aware how close he was to the rioters.
"It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes," he said of the footage screened inside the chamber. "That was overwhelmingly distressing."
His son Matt Romney thanked the officer in a post on Twitter.
Previously shown footage of Officer Goodman shows the Black officer holding back dozens of mostly white rioters up a flight of stairs as he appeared to steer them away from the Senate chambers, where lawmakers and staff took shelter.
The newly released footage shows Mr Pence and his family descending stairs below the Senate chambers, as a mob demanded to know where he was after he refused to overturn the results hours earlier, while Officer Goodman was on the opposite side of the Senate doors directing the mob away.
More video footage shows mobs outside the Capitol chanting "hang Mike Pence" and "bring out Pence."
Impeachment managers also aired previously unreleased radio communication from Washington DC Metropolitan Police Officers demanding back up and reporting "multiple law enforcement injuries" as a group of 50 rioters charged the Capitol steps.
“They’re starting to dismantle the reviewing stand. They’re throwing metal poles at us,” an officer says.
In another audio clip, an officer is heard saying: “We need some reinforcements up here now. They’re starting to pull the gates down. They’re throwing metal poles at us."
Impeachment managers also shared whispered audio footage of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's staff, who barricaded themselves in an office, as pounding from rioters can be heard nearby.
The team of impeachment managers on Wednesday have argued that the former president incited the deadly insurrection after months of encouraging violence and undermining the results of the 2020 election with the "big lie" of voter fraud that fuelled his supporters violence.
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