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Capitol Police hero Eugene Goodman escorts Kamala Harris at inauguration

The Capitol Police officer lauded for his heroism during the Jan. 6 riot escorted the vice president-elect in his new position as Acting House Sergeant-at-Arms.
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U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman arrives at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Win McNamee / AFP via Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Two weeks after Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman potentially saved lives while face-to-face with a violent mob at the U.S. Capitol, he returned to the building as the escort for Vice President Kamala Harris on Inauguration Day.

Goodman, who was lauded as a hero for leading the rioters away from an unguarded Senate door on Jan. 6, is escorting Harris for the day as she makes history as the nation's first female vice president and first Black and South Asian vice president.

The military veteran also is escorting Harris as part of his new duties as Acting Deputy House Sergeant-at-Arms. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a day after the riot that the previous House Sergeant-at-Arms, Paul D. Irving, was resigning in the wake of the security failure.

The position is a significant promotion for the former Capitol officer, whom a group of lawmakers are seeking to award the Congressional Gold Medal for his actions.

On Wednesday, Goodman could be seen wearing a camel-colored overcoat and blue scarf as he escorted Harris up the steps of the Capitol ahead of her swearing-in ceremony.

The officer was praised for his quick thinking after a video recorded during the storming of the Capitol showed him walking backward up the steps to the second floor of the building while trying to keep the rioters at bay.

Goodman backpedaled in the opposite direction from the Senate chamber — where, among others, Vice President Mike Pence was being guarded — leading the mob away from Pence and other members of Congress.

Pence was in attendance at the inauguration on Wednesday, while President Donald Trump, who has been impeached by the House of Representatives for inciting the mob, became the first president since 1869 to decline to attend his successor's inauguration.

One of Goodman's colleagues, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, 42, died a day after the riot from injuries suffered while trying to protect the Capitol. Howard Liebengood, another Capitol Police officer who was part of the response, died off-duty three days later. Four others died as a result of the stunning attack.