Security video from the January insurrection of the US Capitol has shown officer Eugene Goodman saving senator Mitt Romney from rioters – turning the former presidential candidate away from rioters heading in his direction.
The footage, part of their presentation during day two of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, was made public for the first time on Wednesday.
The clip showed just how close the Utah Republican came to clashing with the angry mob, and how Goodman distracted them away from the Senate chamber.
Democrats presented the never-before-seen security footage showing rioters pounding and beating the windows until they broke open.
Dozens of rioters can be seen pouring into the hallways, in apparent search for the Senate chamber. Some of the first people who broke into the Capitol wore tactical gear, and one was holding a baseball bat.
One rioter could be seen in a QAnon shirt, while another was holding a Confederate flag.
A lone officer responds to the scene and attempts to pepper spray the first person to enter the building, though he is quickly overwhelmed by the incoming rush of rioters.
He quickly turns around as more people climb through the broken windows and into the halls of the Capitol.
In separate security footage filmed from another angle, officer Goodman can be seen running to the mob of people and provoking them in an attempt to redirect Romney away from the rioters.
Another angle of security footage shows vice president Mike Pence being evacuated from the Senate chamber, fleeing the mob who was searching for him.
In one security video, staff members for House speaker Nancy Pelosi can be seen running down a hallway and into an office, where they barricaded themselves and hid.
Moments after they run into the office, a mob walks down that same hall.
One video showed another mob rushing through a different entrance on the east side of the Capitol. One of the first people to breach that entrance was holding a large flag bearing Trump’s name.
During a call with reporters on Wednesday morning, senior aides on the impeachment managers’ team called the footage “quite extraordinary.”
“It will provide new insight into both the extreme violence that everyone suffered, the risk and the threat that could have led to further violence and death,” one aide said. “It shows really the extent of what Donald Trump unleashed on our Capitol.”
Democrats also aired audio recordings of Capitol Police officers calling for help on the radio as rioters attacked them, with some of the rioters apparently using poles.
“We have a group of about 50 charging up the hill on the west front,” an officer can be heard saying on the radio recording. “They’re throwing poles at us.”