New safety material from the Assault of the Capitol presented by the Home Management’s accusation managers to the officer Eugene Goodman Senator Mitt Romney ordered to go to safety on January 6. Romney appeared to be in the direction of the rioters when Goodman sent him away.
The footage was played on Wednesday during the indictment of former President Trump. The managers of the house accusations used the new footage in their opening arguments against Mr. Trump, who was indicted by the House on January 6, charged with inciting the uprising of the uprising at the Capitol.
The footage showed how close the Republican from Utah clashed with the angry mob, something that could probably have happened if Goodman had not intervened. Goodman tried to restrain the mob and pulled them off the Senate Hall.
“Officer Goodman passes Senator Mitt Romney and orders him to turn around to get to safety,” said home manager Stacey Plaskett, describing the silent security footage as she played it.
Goodman led many of the rioters out of the Senate and bought critical time for lawmakers to get to safety. Goodman also bought time for Vice President Mike Pence and his family to escape to a safe place, just moments before rioters saw the Vice President.
On Wednesday, it was just one of the pieces of footage that house managers of indictment had never seen before.
Only one camera angle was allowed during the Senate hearing, which means viewers do not have the opportunity to see senators’ reactions. The pool reporter in the room said at the time that Romney was watching the recordings closely, as it shows Goodman may be saving his life. Most senators were also glued to the footage, reporters in the pool said.
During the lunch break, Romney told reporters it was “disturbing” to see the footage. He also said he did not know he was so close to the crowd, and that he did not know that Goodman sent him to safety.
“I look forward to thanking him the next time I see him,” Romney said. “That I was indeed very happy that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction.”
House indictment manager Eric Swalwell reminded senators that they were only ’58 steps away ‘from where the mob was expanding when they were evacuated from the room at 2.30pm.
– Grace Segers of CBS News contributed to this report.