Black ‘Hero’ cop hailed during Black History Month
Capitol Hill Police Offi cer Eugene Goodman speaks with
others after the fourth day of the Senate Impeachment
trials for former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in
Washington, DC, U.S. Feb. 12, 2021. Jabin Botsford/Pool via
REUTERS, fi le POOL
Caribbean Life, MARCH 5-11, 2021 13
Of all the platitudes doled
out to honor Black trailblazers
and achievers last month few
compare this millennium with
the heroic deeds exhibited by
Capitol Police Officer, Eugene
Goodman on Jan. 6.
His selfless act of heroism
and duty was rewarded in Black
History Month with a standing
ovation from a bi-partisan
assembly of legislators and most
importantly, the Congressional
Medal of Honor.
The honorable distinction
rewards the quick-thinking
police officer — who diverted
domestic terrorists away from
the Senate chamber during a
siege on the Capitol Building in
Washington D.C. represent gold
medal status to his profession
and race.
It also declares Goodman a
national hero.
His brave, quick-thinking
action went viral and immediately
lauded him a hero after
video showed him luring the
armed and angry mob away
from the chamber of democracy.
Goodman knew his way
around the vast building and
instead of yielding to the invaders
— many of whom carried
weapons of destruction —
steered them away from the area
then-Vice President Mike Pence
might have been.
Throughout the insurrection
cheerleaders vowed to “hang
Mike Pence.”
Outside the Capitol Building
a noose hung from a wooden
frame seemingly ready to
accommodate the chants.
Goodman knew the soughtafter
Republican had been
presiding inside the chamber
moments prior to the breach,
therefore he purposeful guided
the crowd away from the target
area some said they intended to
perpetrate destruction.
His decision proved heroic.
According to New York’s senior
senator and Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer: “I think
we can all agree that Eugene
Goodman deserves the highest
honor Congress can bestow.”
Sen. Schumer made the
announcement from the same
floor breached by insurrectionists
determined to upend a constitutional
procedure of certifying
the votes of Americans.
Moments after conceding to
defeat when Republicans banded
to reject incriminating evidence
against their leader, the
senior senator from New York
said: “Here in this trial, we saw a
new video, powerful video showing
calmness under pressure,
his courage in the line of duty,
his foresight in the midst of
chaos, and his willingness to
make himself a target of the
mob’s rage so that others might
reach safety.”
“In the weeks after the attack
on Jan. 6, the world learned
about the incredible bravery of
Officer Goodman on that fateful
day,” Schumer added.
The previously unreleased
video was a revelation.
Showing images of former
Vice President Mike Pence scurrying
to safety and his Republican
colleague from Utah, Senator
Mitt Romney being redirected
from danger, there was
indisputable evidence that on
that ill-fated date, PO Goodman
acted bravely and unselfishly.
For a brief moment, it seemed
politics took a back-seat.
A bi-partisan assembly of
Democrats and Republican senators
stood to applaud the hero
cop.
The 41-year-old Army veteran
was born in Washington D.C.
He had faced confrontation
in Iraq as a member of the 101st
airborne. But that was on foreign
soil.
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By Vinette K. Pryce