Impeachment managers unveil new video of officer pointing Romney to safety, Pence evacuating

Feb 10, 2021

House impeachment managers unveiled new footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, including film of Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman pointing Sen. Mitt Romney to safety and former Vice President Mike Pence being evacuated.

The new video, displayed next to a map of the Capitol building, underscores just how close rioters got to lawmakers during the deadly insurrection. Rioters were within 100 feet of Pence and his family and "just feet" from the Senate chamber, Del. Stacey Plaskett said.

The first new video shown, presented by Plaskett of the Virgin Islands, showed one officer trying to fend off rioters breaching the Capitol near the Senate chamber. The officer tried to spray a rioter entering, but a surge of rioters quickly overcame him. Some were wearing body armor and some had riot shields, while one had a baseball bat, Plaskett said. Among them were members of the Proud Boys, she said.

Another new video showed Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman sprinting to respond to the security breach, pointing to Romney and directing for him to leave for safety. Goodman has previously been praised for getting the mob away from the Senate chamber, with some lawmakers calling for him to get the Congressional Gold Medal.

Another new video showed Goodman "provok[ing]" rioters towards fellow officers, all while Pence was still not in a secure location, Plaskett said. More footage showed Pence and his family being evacuated down a set of stairs.

During that time, rioters were flowing throughout the Capitol, looking for Pence, Plaskett said.

“The mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism, because the Vice President had refused to do what the president demanded and overturn the election results,” Plaskett said.

During the insurrection, rioters had set up gallows and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”

More security footage shows House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff moving to a conference room where they hid. Seven minutes after they barricaded themselves, rioters came into the hallway, Plaskett said.

One rioter broke open an outer door to the conference room, but was unable to get through an inner door. Another tried and failed to break into the inner door later on. “They’re pounding on doors trying to find [Pelosi],” a staffer said in a recording that Plaskett showed.

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