Eugene Goodman (born 1980) is an American

United States Capitol Police The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...

officer who diverted invading rioters from the

United States Senate chamber The United States Senate chamber is a room in the north wing of the United States Capitol that has served as the Legislature, legislative chamber of the United States Senate, since January 4, 1859. The Senate first convened in its current meetin ...

during the January 6 Capitol attack. Goodman is a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

veteran who served during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. He served as the Acting Deputy

Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate The sergeant at arms and doorkeeper of the United States Senate (originally known as the doorkeeper of the Senate from April 7, 1789 – 1798) is the protocol officer, executive officer, and highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer of th ...

from January 20, 2021, to March 2, 2021. On February 12, 2021, the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

adopted a resolution awarding Goodman the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

, a resolution that died in the 117th Congress and never passed the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. On January 6, 2023, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

awarded him the

Presidential Citizens Medal The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the president of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on N ...

Early life and military service

Goodman was born in 1980 and raised in the

southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

section of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He served from 2002 to 2006 in the United States Army, including in combat with the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

in the

. As a

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

deployed to Iraq in 2005, Goodman led a 10-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

in the Sunni triangle area that conducted patrols and identified

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

s requiring detonation. He was described by members of his military company as "calm, cool, and collected". Goodman left the military in 2006. By 2009, he was a member of the U.S. Capitol Police.

Response to the January 6 Capitol attack

On January 6, 2021, supporters of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

breached the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

building when, unaccompanied by other officers, Goodman confronted them. He has been cited for heroism in baiting and diverting the insurrectionists away from the Senate chamber in the minutes before the chamber could be safely evacuated. As the crowd of insurrectionists reached a landing from which there was an unimpeded path to the chamber, Goodman pushed the lead person, Doug Jensen, and then deliberately retreated away from the chamber, enticing the crowd to chase him in another direction. One media report described his actions as follows:

In short, he tricked them, willingly becoming the rabbit to their wolf pack, pulling them away from the chambers where armed officers were waiting, avoiding tragedy and saving lives. Lives which include their own.

Those present at the time of the event, including Democratic and Republican legislators and members of the press, praised Goodman for his quick thinking and brave actions. Republican Senator

Ben Sasse Benjamin Eric Sasse ( ; born February 22, 1972) is an American politician and higher education administrator. He represented Nebraska in the United States Senate from 2015 to 2023, resigning to become the 13th president of the University of Flo ...

credited Goodman with having "single-handedly prevented untold bloodshed". Goodman's former unit, the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...

, issued a statement shortly after the riot, commending his valor and saying that he "was a hero long before last Wednesday". Goodman's actions were captured in video footage taken by ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' reporter Igor Bobic. Bobic's footage of Goodman went viral on the internet, receiving more than 10 million views. A second video of Goodman's confrontation with the crowd was published by

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to ne ...

on January 15. Goodman's actions have been credited with saving the lives of those who remained in the chambers of Congress, those in the hallways who were attempting to evacuate, and the rioters themselves, who might otherwise have drawn forceful responses as with Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot while approaching the House chamber. A video released on February 10, 2021, during the

second impeachment trial of Donald Trump The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States (in office from 2017 to 2021), began on February 9, 2021, and concluded with his acquittal on February 13. Donald Trump had been Second impeachment of Dona ...

, showed Goodman leading Utah Senator

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

away from approaching rioters during the January 6 attack. Romney later stated he did not know how close he was and he did not know it was Goodman who diverted him away from the rioters but he looked forward to thanking Goodman.

Honors

Following the attack on the Capitol, Jaime Harrison and others called for Goodman to be awarded the

. A bipartisan resolution (H.Res.305) was introduced on January 13, 2021, by Representatives

Charlie Crist Charles Joseph Crist Jr. ( ; born July 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. represen ...

(D-FL),

Emanuel Cleaver Emanuel Cleaver II (born October 26, 1944) is a United Methodist pastor and American politician who has represented in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2005. He was previously the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, from 1991 to 1999, the ...

(D-MO), and

Nancy Mace Nancy Ruth Mace (born December 4, 1977) is an American politician who has been the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district since 2021. She is a member of the Republican Party (U ...

(R-SC) to award the medal to Goodman. Rep. Cleaver, one of the three original co-sponsors of the bill, wrote that, " not for the quick, decisive, and heroic actions from Officer Goodman, the tragedy of last week's insurrection could have multiplied in magnitude to levels never before seen in American history. With this prestigious award, we can show our gratitude to Officer Goodman for saving countless lives and defending our democracy." Goodman also was awarded the Distinguished Public Service Award by both the secretary and chief of staff of the U.S. Army. In addition, online petitions at

Care2 Care2 is a social network services, social networking website that was founded by Randy Paynter in 1998. The goal of the site is to connect activists from around the world with other individuals, organizations and responsible businesses. Overview ...

and

Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

to award the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

to Goodman had received more than 83,500 signatures as of January 21, 2021. Following the event, Goodman said he was not looking for any accolades and expressed concern about potentially being targeted by extremists, but he insisted that he would "do the same thing again". On January 20, 2021, Goodman escorted

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

to her

inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

as the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

. He was announced as the Acting Deputy

; when stepping out onto the inauguration platform ahead of Harris, he received a standing ovation and cheers from those attending the ceremony.

Medals

Meritorious Civilian Service Award The Meritorious Civilian Service Award is commonly the highest award granted by U.S. Army Commanders (Major General and above, or civilian equivalent). The Award and Medal is provided to civilian employees within agencies of the federal governmen ...

, 2021 *

, 2023 On February 12, 2021, the U.S. Senate voted by

unanimous consent In parliamentary procedure, unanimous consent, also known as general consent, or in the case of the parliaments under the Westminster system, leave of the house (or leave of the senate), is a situation in which no member present objects to a propo ...

to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal on Eugene Goodman. He had been invited to attend the proceedings and was present in the Senate Chamber for the vote, at which time, Goodman received a standing ovation from the members. On August 5, 2021, both chambers passed a concurrent resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to "The United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021," without specific reference to Goodman. No action was ever taken in the House of Representatives to agree to the Senate's resolution awarding Goodman an individual Congressional Gold Medal as both chambers must pass the bill for an award to be conferred. File:Eugene Goodman award.jpg, Goodman receives the Joint

(from left: Senator

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

Mark Milley, Goodman, and Senator

Roy Blunt Roy Dean Blunt (born January 10, 1950) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Missouri from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he pre ...

). File:210225-D-WD757-1946 (50981295537).jpg, Goodman's

. File:P20230106AS-1752 (52644829441).jpg, President Biden presents the

to Goodman during a ceremony on 6 January 2023 in the

East Room The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for dances, receptions, p ...

of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. File:Presidential Citizens Medal.png, Presidential Citizens Medal.

References

External links

* * by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...