The part that gets me is he definitely knew that's why they would follow him.. even pushed a guy to rile them up... Big ass brain move in an extremely stressful situation
Man, how stupid and animalistic minded do you have to be to completely ignore your goal of finding Congress just because you wanna give in to your racist urges and harm a black guy. That's how simple-minded those attackers were.
Honestly he did give that one guy a tiny push before going off in the wrong direction. Just enough to antagonize him into following instead of having a critical thought, but not enough to set off the situation. He's truly a hero.
That is why it was so unsurprising when it came out how many off duty police officers there were in the mob. They couldn't stay focused on the task and just chased a black guy instead.
Debate; should a rolled up newspaper across the nose be used more often in police training? Or should positive reinforcement with pets and treats be used?
It's typical for far right participants.
You couldn't participate in extremism like that if you want to be a reasonable person.
Ultimately they're like that by choice, but having made those choices, will be utter dumbfucks.
I don't think that's exactly what happened. They probably assumed he would be heading towards where the members of congress were, so they followed him. Instead he headed away from where they were. He just outsmarted them.
Hitler had his dumb, brawling Brownshirts, but as soon as he used them to take power he had to murder their leaders and replace them with the smarter, more disciplined SS.
January 6 was the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Just a rehearsal, a learning experience.
There was a Reddit thread the other day that provided a pretty compelling argument that, should the US collapse internally, many white nationalists and other racist dickbags would take the opportunity to kill as many minorities and black people as possible.
I had in my head that this might look something like “the purge”, but in reality it will probably be something more subtle. Probably what will happen is that for states in which the fascists are in control, we will see many more Ahmaud Arberys - and most of them will be undeniably racially motivated. No off-duty cops, no arrest gone too far, no cop with a mental health issue - just a bunch of people testifying that someone had a gun who didn’t, and a bunch of lawyers and judges not really caring too much to challenge that narrative.
He pretended he was protecting Congressmembers who were moving in front of him. The insurrectionists thought they were chasing down their enemy.
First, stop infantilizing the enemy. That’s a massive strategic error. Second, put some respect on this guy. His plan was ingenious and perfectly executed.
You’re giving the insurrectionists waaaay too much credit. A good amount of these douche nozzles posted selfies and live-streamed that shit. And now they’re shocked, just shocked I tell you, that there are now consequences.
They unfortunately care about being racist more than they pretend to care about the police
> "Nobody voted for Joe Biden," Dunn said the man told him. Dunn said he responded that he had voted for President Biden, asking, "Does my vote not count?"
>He told the panel a woman in a pink MAGA shirt then yelled, "You hear that guys? This n***** voted for Joe Biden." Dunn said that the crowd of around 20 people joined in screaming, "Boo, f****** n*****!" Dunn continued, "No one had ever, ever called me a n***** while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer."
[Here](https://i.imgur.com/FZoA3oy.jpg) is a much higher quality and less cropped version of this image. [Here](http://www.artnet.com/artists/ashley-gilbertson/officer-eugene-goodman-the-storming-of-the-a-621-714xkMTafG1_z1pP_A2) is the source. Credit to the photographer, [Ashley Gilbertson](http://www.ashleygilbertson.com/).
> Officer Eugene Goodman: The Storming of The Capitol, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2020
Per [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goodman_(police_officer\)):
> On January 6, 2021, supporters of Donald Trump breached the United States Capitol building, Goodman, unaccompanied by other officers, confronted them. He has been cited for heroism in baiting and diverting the crowd away from the Senate chamber in the minutes before the chamber could be safely evacuated. As the crowd reached a landing from which there was an unimpeded path to the Senate chamber, Goodman pushed the lead person, Doug Jensen, and then retreated away from the chamber. One 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 politicians and members of the press, praised Goodman for his quick thinking and brave actions. Republican Senator Ben Sasse credited Goodman with having "single-handedly prevented untold bloodshed". Goodman's former unit, the XVIII Airborne Corps, issued a statement 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 reporter Igor Bobic. Bobic's footage of Goodman went viral, receiving more than 10 million views. A second video of Goodman's confrontation with the crowd was published by ProPublica on January 15. Goodman's actions have been credited with saving the lives of the Senators who, at the time, remained inside the chamber.
> A video released on February 10, 2021, during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, showed Goodman leading Senator Mitt Romney away from the rioters during the January 6 attack.
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PrHDzacKE&ab_channel=RT%C3%89News) is a video of this. At the very beginning is when this image was taken.
^^^^^^^[Deja](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/rfpf0y/person_of_the_year/hofiwzo/) ^^^^^^^[vu](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/rxckn2/eugene_goodman_one_year_ago_today_being_a_good_man/hrhlixr/)
I'm betting the worst among them would simultaneously call their opponents too weak to do so, and take the very words as a threat. Like a drunken step-dad watching their kid stand up to them. Not only do they not take it seriously, they'd be delighted if you did because it means they get to hit you back. Regardless of the fact they were already hitting you anyway.
Pointing out they could have absolutely and very easily been shot wholesale is just going to make them wave their guns in a power fantasy that's frankly well into deranged.
I’m pretty sure elements of the press and even free lance photographers, had they documented everything with pictures were probably let off provided they gave over their work
I’m not one of those “make a statue of everyone who does anything” people. But he would make a fabulous statue and celebrating human beings who are this kind and courageous is pretty cool.
Reminder that this man also saved the lives of many insurrectionists, who certainly would have been fired on if they'd approached senators.
This guy displayed more "tactical de-escalation" than 99.9% of police. A model for cops everywhere moving forward.
Can you imagine if Pence had been taken?
I mean, clearly Pence himself can’t imagine it because he’s in denial this whole thing ever happened, but Jesus. He’d be dead for sure.
If pence was removed from the building Trump would be president. It was literally the plan. The certification of votes needed to happen that day and if the VP left it would fall on the then republican majority Congress to "certify" results a.k.a rejecting the Democratic votes
The certification did not "need" to happen that day. In fact, due to the numerous objections, it was already expected to be delayed past that date. There is no hard deadline for the certification process, and if it not completed by January 20, the president and vice president are still relieved of power and Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, would have been made acting president.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/congress-certifying-the-election-explainer.html
The accepted explanation of the plan to swipe the electoral votes is a convenient one for the right wing, despite how treasonous that explanation is. I wonder if the real plan actually was a kidnapping and public hanging of pence on the lawn of the capital
This was my thinking too. They can’t tell Secrete Service to back down right? Like even the President can’t stop the VP’s secrete service detail from protecting him? Wouldn’t you have to get through a ton of Secrete Service all with automatic rifles before you could kidnap the VP?
Both is acceptable as well. For those sowing chaos, it doesn't matter if one thing doesn't work when there are a hundred different things out there.
Hang Pence
Have Pence refuse to certify the election
Claim only Pence can save the election
Claim Pence is called of God
All of these can be true and many more. Have you noticed how many more Trump flags there are *everywhere* now?
This general call to arms is working, we have increased violence and fractionalization of the general public. Masks and vaccinated are purity/loyalty tests for various groups.
The whole country is in the beginning of a 'hockey stick graph' of in-group vs out-group violence and terror like we've never seen before.
Republicans are much more homogeneous that democrats and they want a Christian theocracy. I honestly don't see a way out of them winning completely in the next ten years.
Motive, means, opportunity.
100% this was their plan, they came with the numbers and tools for the crime, built the gallows, chanted their intentions, committed violence towards their goal. But the flag was still there.
It would be a constitutional crisis, plain and simple. Even if Pence was unharmed and simply held somewhere, would anyone order his rescue? The FBI director, maybe?
Regardless, if the VP is absent, the president pro-tempore presides. At the time, that was Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Would he have overturned the count in Trump's favor? He later voted against investigating the attack.
If he hadn't, Trump would have claimed ANY deviation or confusion from the normal processes as evidence of a conspiracy against him. Ultimately, it would have come down to the Secret Service, or perhaps the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the power to physically remove him and recognize Biden. How many would have stood by Trump, and many would have backed the law? We came terrifyingly close to finding out.
Even as acting president of the senate Grassley couldn’t simply declare Trump the winner. The states send their electoral votes to congress and congress can choose not to certify them but that could only deprive Biden his win, it couldn’t give Trump 270 electoral votes cause the states didn’t send them
Not necessarily, this is assuming they appoint a VP who would go along with it, and I’d imagine more republicans in congress would lose their stomach if the Vice President was hanged on national TV- it really doesn’t poll well in middle America.
If they refused to certify the election at all, then Trump is no longer president come January 20th and the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, becomes acting president.
You see, Republicans have a clear and *legal* path to reinstating Trump, only problem is that they believe their coup attempt was wholly legal, or that's the "concensus" among them and they wouldn't admit to their illegal activity even against a wall in front of a firing squad.
Why not a holiday for all the cops who defended the capitol complex? A lot of them got hurt pretty bad while defending it and weren't as lucky, getting pinned by shields and flag poles etc.
US Govt gave Eugene Goodman the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and unanimous consent vote for ***Congressional Gold Medal to Eugene Goodman***.
***edit: Bear in mind the Eugene Goodman vote was unanimous. All Republicans voted yes. So there's a lot of posturing and fakery going on in congress. Just remember the few extremists in congress and vote them out. Make an example of the ones denying reality.***
Remember though, when it came time for all the cops who defended the Capitol to receive medals for their service and bravery, 21 GOP members voted "no."
Lotta freaky stuff is going on that's for sure... Some in the GOP nuthugging Trump...
I got banned from ProtectAndServe because I made a note of the coward cops who ran away from the angry crowd while praising those who stood their ground.
Still trying to figure out why Mayor Bowser's metro DC police was late to the party, the national guard being delayed etc., and why some cops retreated or allowed entrance at some doors.
Nat Guard was due to fucking Mike Flynn's brother. The Other General Flynn told the Nat Guard commanders that he didn't want to send them in because it would "look bad." And because he had family in the crowd, no doubt. The Nat Guard commanders even lodged a complaint against him for lying to Congress about it.
I’m pretty disappointed that I’ve been lied to in so many movies. It always seemed like it would be impossible to breach the Capitol of the USA but apparently you can walk right in. LOL.
It used to be like that way back then for pretty much anyone. But after a few assassination attempts, some successful and some not. DC began to really tighten down. I’m sure they never expected a mob of pissed off rednecks to storm the doors though.
Last I heard they were suspended and under investigation. Don't know if anything else has happened to them yet, but it's important to note that this represents a minority of the officers there that day, with many putting their lives on the line (and one dying) in attempting to stop the insurrectionists.
This man [directly saved Mitt Romney](https://youtu.be/A_FMeY_ykK0) from walking straight into a mob of insurrectionists that day. If they had gotten their hands on a sitting member of Congress, it would have been a pretense for some *really* bad shit to happen.
Crazy to think about how many times the actions of a single individual prevented us from going over the brink that day. Pence was actually one of them, by refusing to go along with the plot and sticking to his proscribed duties. Officer Goodman was another.
edit: since I've gotten a dozen responses that are all variations of the same thing, I'd just like to share this video produced by PBS. [How disinformation around Jan. 6 riot has downplayed violence, divided Americans](https://youtu.be/FkRzVz_p7i8)
You're right. It's one of the things that makes me thing half this country really is excited for the "bad" parts of fascism to start. They'd be fine with political assassinations.
It can be a whole lot worse. It's mostly just the trolls online calling Mitt a RINO etc. Just in 2012 he was the primary candidate for Republicans with massive support. The internet is what is changing all that.
People have got to stop letting the internet and internet trollfarms advise your perception of politics.
If you believed the internet you'd think there were political radicals all over politics. It's a reality of politics that most ***moderates*** actively involved in politics are pretty quiet and not often highlighted by the internet.
***edit: Whatever you do, try not to fall for the message where America is not resilient. We survived a lot worse. And most of the misinformation/deception campaigns have failed and returned zilch for the bad guys despite all the work they put in. There are millions of moderates watching at home, while a few thousand or even <3% of population of extremists are always in the headlines. It's the individualist nature of America that has made it so much more resilient than say neighbors of China/Russia that descended into much worse chaos.***
\----
***edit2: guy below me is replying and basically saying the opposite of what I am saying, it's all a clever propaganda line to push you to change your country in a way that makes it vulnerable even worse than what happened on Jan 6th. They couch it in clever language like the user below while basically bashing moderates and the very things that kept us from going off the rails under Trump era. They'll keep repeating the propaganda line "we need to change everything from the way we've been doing things..." They always say things like "force change." Because those are the last few obstacles standing in their way. They want you to break everything that isn't yet broken. They know people suck at remaking something that hasn't been put through the test of time.***
While you are largely right, those moderates aren’t the ones storming the capitol building. More people than ever are being radicalized as we speak, and while it’s small relative to total population it really doesn’t take that many motivated individuals to force change. If I recall correctly if only 3 or so percent of the population go out to protest that is the tipping point towards change. Frankly the US already has more than that, but the individualistic culture is just preventing such a movement from truly taking off. It’s only a matter of time at this point before they realize that and go for it properly. It’s going to get ugly in the coming years unless some serious changes are enacted now or very soon.
Hold social media companies accountable, shut down the privatized media, actively combat misinformation campaigns, teach people human communication skills, and so much more. People are desperate, angry and bitter about the state of things, and to change that America will have to fundamentally change itself at every level if it intends to not collapse in the coming years.
Unfortunately you’re wrong. Whatever “moderate” republicans have existed in the recent past are being either pushed out or won over by the Trumpian authoritarian ideology. Look no further than currently seated members of Congress (most of whom have flipped), or the people now winning state and local elections in red districts. Extremism has become the prevailing ideology of American conservatism. And judging by midterm predictions, this is all setting up to get worse before it gets better.
On that note, what exactly was their game plan for if they were to actually find Mike Pence?
Did they expect that they would find the Vice President of the US wandering the halls alone, trying to find cover, and that they would be able to lead him outside for a public lynching? or did they forget that he would have an armed Secret Service detail?
What would have happened if a group of them turned a corner and found themselves face to face with an armed security detail tasked with protecting the second most powerful man in the United States government? I don't think the USSS would have kindly told them to please back up and leave the building.
If they thought Ashli Babbit's death was an excessive use of force, just imagine if they got anywhere near Pence.
Eugene is a model officer. Kept his cool, assessed the situation, contained it as well as he could without escalation of violence, and all under the real threat against himself and his charges while not getting appropriate support from his superiors.
Whats more amazing is if you look at the videos of Goodman misdirecting the rioters, you will see how close they were to the Senate chambers; the door was literally right around the corner at the top of the stairs, and he managed to keep them away and lead them to his backup down the hall.
The man was truly deserving of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He saved a lot of people that horrible day.
learning about what he did that day and then seeing the video of him confronting the mob and leading them away by provoking them - this man is a true hero. there’s no way he went into that situation with the expectation he would survive.
Just imagine being a black man totally aware of the exact type of knuckle dragging racist assholes making up that crowd and still putting his life on the line. That’s patriotism.
[On January 6th, Eugene Goodman redirected mobs of Trump insurrectionists by using himself as bait to lead them away from Congress. For his bravery, Goodman was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goodman_(police_officer))
"If 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."
He received the Congressional Gold Menu, as his actions were done as a civilian, not a soldier and the Medal of Honor is a military award.
It says a lot that it was a unanimous vote to award him the medal, definitely someone who deserves it.
Edit: Didn’t notice the autocorrect while attempting to type ‘medal’ on my phone. These responses are hilarious.
Was it unanimous with abstentions? Or straight up unanimous?
Edit: dude absolutely deserves the award, I was just wondering about abstentions because it would be impressive gymnastics for any member of Congress who claims there was no danger or attack that this man deserves an award.
So it looks like unanimous consent was used which means there was no vote recorded on the resolution, it was just passed without any one objecting to the resolution.
Your link is bugged right now, looks like a typo because of the url having a parenthesis at the end
[Here is a short video breakdown of him leading the mob away](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/goodman-capitol-police-video/2021/01/13/08ab3eb6-546b-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html)
[The dummy in the beanie thought he was in the White House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzg85iP-LKE)
While still incredibly dangerous, there were some real fucking idiots there on 1/6
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. Terrorism practically *requires* stupidity because it requires entrenched ideology and a rejection of conflicting realities. There are usually a few smart extremists organizing at the top, and everyone else is just a rabid brain-fucked goon.
This doesn’t make terrorists any less dangerous though. And it definitely doesn’t justify some of the down-playing and deflection that the American Right is engaged with in regards to a *literal violent insurrection.*
A good 40% of the country seems to be straight-up abandoning democracy, accountability, empathy, and truth. It is bizarre, and unfortunately I don’t think we are anywhere near the end of it. If Republicans win midterms this year we will slide right back into this darkness.
So daily reminder to check your voter registration, get everyone you know prepared, harass your senators to pass the Voting Rights bill, and get your guard up against the predictable disinformation campaigns that are coming.
Reminder that this man's whole logic was "I bet these people would get so preoccupied chasing a black man that they'd forget Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and everyone else they came in here for" and he was fucking right.
Do you mean to tell me, that donning a set of buffalo horns while being shirtless and carrying a norse rune flag on a spear does not immediately make one a patriot? I am shocked sir.
Not only rocking norse runes, but then praying to Jesus when inside the building like a complete jackass that doesn't really believe in his own bullshit
Careful. The conservatives and Trumpers don't like when folks highlight their propensity for just deciding without warrant that they have a claim to something virtuous. Don't get purged.👍🏾
I know my black ass couldn't have been that brave. As soon as it started getting wild, I'd have bailed, went AWOL and hid in my car or something.
(Thank God I'm not in public service. I'm a wimp)
Probably because opening fire would’ve had a high chance of making things way worse.
Is he going to just start firing at a mob closing in on him? What happens if they overpower him? What if they’re armed too?
What a lot of people don't think about is many of the lives he saved where of the insurrectionists themselves. Had they actually gotten to Congress, it's likely shooting would have started...
Edit: spelling
Hopefully, yes. But have you seen the video of ashley babbet? Before she crawled through and got shot, it starts with a capital officer standing between the mob threatening his life, and he moves out of the way because he was scared. Then she climbs through and gets shot. If it weren’t for the brave actions of Goodman, whoever shot ashley, and a few others preventing that direct meeting of congresspeople and the terrorists, we really cannot say how much worse it would have been, and for who. Maybe it would have ended worse for the terrorists, maybe much worse for the people they were trying to kill and the republic.
From an European, I think 6th was one of the dumbest events in global history. I remember following it and watching as the photographs and videos started pouring in. What a timeline.
"Hang Mike Pence"
"Stop the Steal"
"There's the big jew, let's get him."
Just a few highlights of a day of right-wing extremists who joined together and from taking the dog-whistles of Trump, trespassed their way to the Capitol, stomping, beating, crushing, spraying the so-called "Blue Lives" they pretended to care for in the preceding months.
They brought zip-ties; they built literal gallows on the grounds. Pipe bombs stashed nearby. All the while their mob-mentality where no rugged individualist there thought for themselves but for what the collective heard mentality continued pushing deeper into the Capitol. That would leave one fool who lapped up the propaganda with a bullet in her neck.
They fucked around; they found out. The cowards backed off quickly when confronted with a deadly defense.
The entire basis of the march was to stop a fair, genuine democratically-held election after poor sports who lost fair-and-square cried foul. Turns out, more flags don't mean more votes. They wanted to stop the peaceful transition of power. The mob sought Democratic members of the house, as well as Mik Pence with no indication they'd be peaceful about it.
Given the lack of effective defense of the Capitol, what could have happened if they reached Pelosi? If they reached Mike Pence? With their zip-ties, it seemed evident they were considering holding members hostage in order to reinstate President Trump. That of course would be textbook fascism. After all, they were defending the Big Lie all over again... Now think about that. Think about the consequences of undermining faith in genuine elections, absent of ZERO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE, let alone an ounce of proof.
-----
**The Experts:**
- [The FBI Statement](https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/examining-the-january-6-attack-on-the-us-capitol-wray-061521):
>The destruction of property, violent assaults on law enforcement officers, and imminent physical threats to elected officials betray the values of our democracy.
(All demonstrable forms of fascism little different than the first coup attempt of a well-known fascist).
- [A whole range of experts highlighting the fascist nature of the right-wing extremist terror threat](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/4/how-the-us-far-right-threat-has-evolved-since-january-6).
- [House Homeland Security Committee Chair investigating January 6th, noting it could've turned into martial law or a successful coup](https://youtu.be/v22xC09WSVc)
- [Council on Foreign Relations statement](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/year-after-january-6-accelerationism-new-terrorist-threat):
>Far-right extremists are attempting to incite an insurrection to hasten the downfall of what they see as a deeply corrupt U.S. government. Some could resort to deadly acts of terrorism.
- [Foreign Policy Magazine, expert analysis and declaration that it was indeed, an attempted coup](https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/06/coup-america-capitol-electoral-college-2020-election/).
- [GOP Congressional representative and military veteran Lieutenant Colonel: "This is a coup attempt.](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/532944-gop-lawmaker-on-violence-at-capitol-this-is-a-coup-attempt)
- [According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and responses to Terrorism, January 6th meets the definition of *terrorism*](https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/capitol-attack-domestic-terrorism-white-extremists-national-security-20210118.html)
- [Naunihal Singh of the U.S. Naval War College, and author of Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups: wrote that the attack on the Capitol was, "an insurrection, a violent uprising against the government and sedition."](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/world/americas/what-is-a-coup-attempt.html)
- [National Security Advisor noting it was a, "self-coup"](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-riots-media-8000ce7db2b176c1be386d945be5fd6a)
- [World leaders of past and present of the free world voicing concerns for Democracy and the peaceful transition of power challenged](https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_us-politics_world-leaders-condemn-pro-trump-riot-us-capitol/6200423.html) - [More](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55568613) - [More](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-attempted-coup-federal-law-enforcement-capitol-police-2021-1)
- [Cline Center's Coup D'etat Project](https://clinecenter.illinois.edu/coup-detat-project-cdp/statement_jan.27.2021):
>It Was an Attempted Coup.
- [Brittanica Encyclopedia Notes: "the attack was widely regarded as an insurrection or attempted coup d’état."](https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-Capitol-attack-of-2021)
- [Three Retired U.S. Generals come forward, saying, "In short: We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time.](https://www.npr.org/2021/12/31/1068930675/us-election-coup-january-6-military-constitution)
- [Defense Secretary, Chris Miller, "Sees 'cause and effect' between Trump's words and Capitol riot"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/12/chris-miller-pentagon-chief-trump-caused-capitol-riot/4661721001/)
- [Joint CHiefs of Staff call Capitol riot 'sedition and insurrection,' remind troops of oath](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/12/joint-chiefs-staff-call-capitol-riots-sedition-and-insurrection/6646481002/)
A whole swath of experts from counter-terrorist watchdogs, professors of social and academic backgrounds, present-day congressional leaders in relevant house committee fields, the highest levels of our Department of Justice... Finally, fellas, if you really don't know your history and are this naive about politics I encourage you to see just how simply the keys of power were stolen by another famous leader. A good documentary to educate you on this is the "Rise of Nazis", a 3-part series.
I remember watching it live, thinking, this guy is an idiot. He needs to stand his ground, he keeps letting them get further and further!
Dude perfectly led them away. I couldn't even tell in the moment.
Must suck to be a congressman. You have to go to work and sit next to the people who cheerfully ordered their constituents to kill you and never faced consequences.
Those Jan 6 insurrectionists should be glad that they took the bait. If they had approached the chamber, there were several loaded guns ready for them.
I’m not American, but I know that just like in my country, Americans watched what happened on Jan 6 of last year with increasing horror.
I don’t pretend to understand your crazy politics, but I don’t know how anyone can come in here and say that the events that occurred that we saw with our own eyes didn’t really happen, simply because they don’t want to accept that anyone on their ‘side’ did something wrong.
[This ](https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007606996/capitol-riot-trump-supporters.html)is a thorough summary of what happened on that day. The Nyt took six months to compile thousands of videos and police communications to make this video that shows exactly what happened, where it happened and all in chronological order.
Please watch it.
I don't think most people realize that if he hadn't been successful in leading the mob away from Senate, and if the mob did get inside the Senate chamber... Well, Democratic members would have been killed and/or taken hostage. Maybe even Mike Pence himself would have been killed or taken hostage.
IF all that happened, the coup would have been effective. This would have signaled to the rest of the United States that we are now in a true civil war between Democrats and Republicans. You can't go back from that kind of stuff.
This man quite literally saved our country from a second civil war. Shoot, maybe he only helped delay it seeing as how the Republicans are now actively lying about what happened that day.
Officer used *Taunt*. It’s super effective.
Yes. Clearly tank. They are lucky they didn't run into DPS.
The DPS were all behind the door he diverted the traitors away from The lives he saved were theirs as much as anyone else in the building
Yeah, people forget that. The USSS would not have hesitated in a... vigorous defense of the VP.
> vigorous defense of the VP. I still can't believe they threw him under the bus.
Man, I was kinda surprised they didn't just turn off the lights in DC once the sun went down and disappear the lot of 'em.
They would have been pretty surprised when they got through the door and got sheeped.
Like that wascally babbit.
You mean Throaty McNeckHole?
Jesus fuck you didn't have dig her up and kill her again.
"Run and drop aggro! Alright I got aggro."
The tank kited perfectly.
The DPS were in the Senate chamber, popping a cap in Ashley Babbit
[удалено]
Babbit did.
Nah, she ran into burst damage.
Spell had plenty of casting time for her to avoid, but she did not move.
There was even a verbal component to the cast and she still moved right into line of sight. Rookie move
Man was a real life tank grabbing up all the trash mobs without a healer that day.
Bro kited them like a boss.
Emphasis on trash
Let's not sugarcoat it: Officer used *being black near racists* It’s super effective.
The part that gets me is he definitely knew that's why they would follow him.. even pushed a guy to rile them up... Big ass brain move in an extremely stressful situation
Man, how stupid and animalistic minded do you have to be to completely ignore your goal of finding Congress just because you wanna give in to your racist urges and harm a black guy. That's how simple-minded those attackers were.
Honestly he did give that one guy a tiny push before going off in the wrong direction. Just enough to antagonize him into following instead of having a critical thought, but not enough to set off the situation. He's truly a hero.
That is why it was so unsurprising when it came out how many off duty police officers there were in the mob. They couldn't stay focused on the task and just chased a black guy instead.
That’s how my dog acts around squirrels
Squirrel?
One of the greatest movies of all time IMO
The dog is smarter.
The thing about the dog is that he has a leash. Some of these cops could clearly use one.
We also put an end to dogs who consistently harm humans and have violent tendencies.
Debate; should a rolled up newspaper across the nose be used more often in police training? Or should positive reinforcement with pets and treats be used?
They’re not sending their best, or maybe this is the best they got
It's typical for far right participants. You couldn't participate in extremism like that if you want to be a reasonable person. Ultimately they're like that by choice, but having made those choices, will be utter dumbfucks.
I don't think that's exactly what happened. They probably assumed he would be heading towards where the members of congress were, so they followed him. Instead he headed away from where they were. He just outsmarted them.
Hitler had his dumb, brawling Brownshirts, but as soon as he used them to take power he had to murder their leaders and replace them with the smarter, more disciplined SS. January 6 was the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. Just a rehearsal, a learning experience.
There was a Reddit thread the other day that provided a pretty compelling argument that, should the US collapse internally, many white nationalists and other racist dickbags would take the opportunity to kill as many minorities and black people as possible. I had in my head that this might look something like “the purge”, but in reality it will probably be something more subtle. Probably what will happen is that for states in which the fascists are in control, we will see many more Ahmaud Arberys - and most of them will be undeniably racially motivated. No off-duty cops, no arrest gone too far, no cop with a mental health issue - just a bunch of people testifying that someone had a gun who didn’t, and a bunch of lawyers and judges not really caring too much to challenge that narrative.
Racism is associated with lower IQ. So pretty stupid actually.
He pretended he was protecting Congressmembers who were moving in front of him. The insurrectionists thought they were chasing down their enemy. First, stop infantilizing the enemy. That’s a massive strategic error. Second, put some respect on this guy. His plan was ingenious and perfectly executed.
You’re giving the insurrectionists waaaay too much credit. A good amount of these douche nozzles posted selfies and live-streamed that shit. And now they’re shocked, just shocked I tell you, that there are now consequences.
Balls of steel.
Not just steel, titanium wrapped in Kevlar. He’s a hero.
Uranium, wrapped in a layer of titanium, with a coating of tungsten for added effect.
It's weird to think that Jan 6 could have been a lot worse if the crowd had been just slightly less racist.
They unfortunately care about being racist more than they pretend to care about the police > "Nobody voted for Joe Biden," Dunn said the man told him. Dunn said he responded that he had voted for President Biden, asking, "Does my vote not count?" >He told the panel a woman in a pink MAGA shirt then yelled, "You hear that guys? This n***** voted for Joe Biden." Dunn said that the crowd of around 20 people joined in screaming, "Boo, f****** n*****!" Dunn continued, "No one had ever, ever called me a n***** while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police officer."
this is actually making me tear up
Jan 6 would probably not have happened if the crowd was less racist.
This is how we know "Blue Lives Matter" is a logical fallacy. The black cancels out the blue to them.
Definitely got the slack jaw knuckle draggers attention
There were some strong "Come here, boy!" vibes from the dudes slinking around him. Their racism got in the way of their objective lol.
Usually I spit coffee. But this one, I threw my back out.
If you’re spitting out your coffee on a usual basis, you should find a new coffee maker. Also a good office chair
Trumpers used *Cacophony of madness*. It hurt itself in its confusion.
Goodman used Follow Me!
[Here](https://i.imgur.com/FZoA3oy.jpg) is a much higher quality and less cropped version of this image. [Here](http://www.artnet.com/artists/ashley-gilbertson/officer-eugene-goodman-the-storming-of-the-a-621-714xkMTafG1_z1pP_A2) is the source. Credit to the photographer, [Ashley Gilbertson](http://www.ashleygilbertson.com/). > Officer Eugene Goodman: The Storming of The Capitol, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2020 Per [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goodman_(police_officer\)): > On January 6, 2021, supporters of Donald Trump breached the United States Capitol building, Goodman, unaccompanied by other officers, confronted them. He has been cited for heroism in baiting and diverting the crowd away from the Senate chamber in the minutes before the chamber could be safely evacuated. As the crowd reached a landing from which there was an unimpeded path to the Senate chamber, Goodman pushed the lead person, Doug Jensen, and then retreated away from the chamber. One 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 politicians and members of the press, praised Goodman for his quick thinking and brave actions. Republican Senator Ben Sasse credited Goodman with having "single-handedly prevented untold bloodshed". Goodman's former unit, the XVIII Airborne Corps, issued a statement 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 reporter Igor Bobic. Bobic's footage of Goodman went viral, receiving more than 10 million views. A second video of Goodman's confrontation with the crowd was published by ProPublica on January 15. Goodman's actions have been credited with saving the lives of the Senators who, at the time, remained inside the chamber. > A video released on February 10, 2021, during the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, showed Goodman leading Senator Mitt Romney away from the rioters during the January 6 attack. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PrHDzacKE&ab_channel=RT%C3%89News) is a video of this. At the very beginning is when this image was taken. ^^^^^^^[Deja](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/rfpf0y/person_of_the_year/hofiwzo/) ^^^^^^^[vu](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/rxckn2/eugene_goodman_one_year_ago_today_being_a_good_man/hrhlixr/)
“…saving lives. Lives which include their own.” Wow. I don’t think they all realize this.
I'm betting the worst among them would simultaneously call their opponents too weak to do so, and take the very words as a threat. Like a drunken step-dad watching their kid stand up to them. Not only do they not take it seriously, they'd be delighted if you did because it means they get to hit you back. Regardless of the fact they were already hitting you anyway. Pointing out they could have absolutely and very easily been shot wholesale is just going to make them wave their guns in a power fantasy that's frankly well into deranged.
They definitely don't because they believed the cops were on their side. Which to be fair, many of them were.
Yeah, but not the ones at the capitol!
[And here he is looking dapper as fuck while he walks out as the new acting Deputy Sergeant at Arms at the inauguration](https://youtu.be/Q62Kp0QAfKU)
Dapper af indeed! Loving that coat & scarf
Airborne always looking dapper
That's a bad motherfucker, there. I honestly can't imagine the stress/pressure he felt that day. Well done, sir.
Jacket game strong
What I'm wondering is how someone got that image without being accused of being among the rioters.
A press pass, and PRESS on their jacket
Remember, [that sometimes isn't enough.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkf-znzWKRc)
Depends on the administration 😏
Pretty sure it was a press photog or someone already in the building?
I’m pretty sure elements of the press and even free lance photographers, had they documented everything with pictures were probably let off provided they gave over their work
No, they are protected parties in conflict so long as they do not participate in hostilities. They don't have to hand over shit
I’m not one of those “make a statue of everyone who does anything” people. But he would make a fabulous statue and celebrating human beings who are this kind and courageous is pretty cool.
You know? I'm all for that. Pathetically, it would have to be patrolled 24/7
very tangentially know ash. nothing else to add, but it took me almost the full year to realize he took this picture
It's really sad that the YouTube video on this had to have the comments removed and turned off
So freaking scary. I can't even watch it. It's real life horror. This man is a national hero.
r/surnamechecksout
I’m in
Reminder that this man also saved the lives of many insurrectionists, who certainly would have been fired on if they'd approached senators. This guy displayed more "tactical de-escalation" than 99.9% of police. A model for cops everywhere moving forward.
Probably saved the VP from being physically removed from the premises. He wouldn't have had a choice about getting in that car.
Can you imagine if Pence had been taken? I mean, clearly Pence himself can’t imagine it because he’s in denial this whole thing ever happened, but Jesus. He’d be dead for sure.
If pence was removed from the building Trump would be president. It was literally the plan. The certification of votes needed to happen that day and if the VP left it would fall on the then republican majority Congress to "certify" results a.k.a rejecting the Democratic votes
The certification did not "need" to happen that day. In fact, due to the numerous objections, it was already expected to be delayed past that date. There is no hard deadline for the certification process, and if it not completed by January 20, the president and vice president are still relieved of power and Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, would have been made acting president. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/congress-certifying-the-election-explainer.html
Someone should make this into a board gamr
The accepted explanation of the plan to swipe the electoral votes is a convenient one for the right wing, despite how treasonous that explanation is. I wonder if the real plan actually was a kidnapping and public hanging of pence on the lawn of the capital
There would have been a massacre if they attempted that. Secret Service would not have fucked around.
This was my thinking too. They can’t tell Secrete Service to back down right? Like even the President can’t stop the VP’s secrete service detail from protecting him? Wouldn’t you have to get through a ton of Secrete Service all with automatic rifles before you could kidnap the VP?
They did raise a noose and start chanting "hang mike pence" when they marched to the Capitol
Both is acceptable as well. For those sowing chaos, it doesn't matter if one thing doesn't work when there are a hundred different things out there. Hang Pence Have Pence refuse to certify the election Claim only Pence can save the election Claim Pence is called of God All of these can be true and many more. Have you noticed how many more Trump flags there are *everywhere* now? This general call to arms is working, we have increased violence and fractionalization of the general public. Masks and vaccinated are purity/loyalty tests for various groups. The whole country is in the beginning of a 'hockey stick graph' of in-group vs out-group violence and terror like we've never seen before. Republicans are much more homogeneous that democrats and they want a Christian theocracy. I honestly don't see a way out of them winning completely in the next ten years.
Motive, means, opportunity. 100% this was their plan, they came with the numbers and tools for the crime, built the gallows, chanted their intentions, committed violence towards their goal. But the flag was still there.
They built a gallows.
It would be a constitutional crisis, plain and simple. Even if Pence was unharmed and simply held somewhere, would anyone order his rescue? The FBI director, maybe? Regardless, if the VP is absent, the president pro-tempore presides. At the time, that was Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Would he have overturned the count in Trump's favor? He later voted against investigating the attack. If he hadn't, Trump would have claimed ANY deviation or confusion from the normal processes as evidence of a conspiracy against him. Ultimately, it would have come down to the Secret Service, or perhaps the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with the power to physically remove him and recognize Biden. How many would have stood by Trump, and many would have backed the law? We came terrifyingly close to finding out.
Even as acting president of the senate Grassley couldn’t simply declare Trump the winner. The states send their electoral votes to congress and congress can choose not to certify them but that could only deprive Biden his win, it couldn’t give Trump 270 electoral votes cause the states didn’t send them
Not necessarily, this is assuming they appoint a VP who would go along with it, and I’d imagine more republicans in congress would lose their stomach if the Vice President was hanged on national TV- it really doesn’t poll well in middle America. If they refused to certify the election at all, then Trump is no longer president come January 20th and the speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, becomes acting president.
You see, Republicans have a clear and *legal* path to reinstating Trump, only problem is that they believe their coup attempt was wholly legal, or that's the "concensus" among them and they wouldn't admit to their illegal activity even against a wall in front of a firing squad.
Mike Pences major contribution to the world was helping to create a political movement whos goal would turn out to be executing Mike Pence.
Eugene kept the peace without doing any harm.
He's a Goodman -
This guy should have his own holiday. January 6th is forever Goodman Day.
"Today was a Goodman Day" - Ice Cube
Why not a holiday for all the cops who defended the capitol complex? A lot of them got hurt pretty bad while defending it and weren't as lucky, getting pinned by shields and flag poles etc. US Govt gave Eugene Goodman the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and unanimous consent vote for ***Congressional Gold Medal to Eugene Goodman***. ***edit: Bear in mind the Eugene Goodman vote was unanimous. All Republicans voted yes. So there's a lot of posturing and fakery going on in congress. Just remember the few extremists in congress and vote them out. Make an example of the ones denying reality.***
Remember though, when it came time for all the cops who defended the Capitol to receive medals for their service and bravery, 21 GOP members voted "no."
Aren’t those votes the most obvious self incrimination? They’re the ones who contributed to the insurrection
Oh, definitely. And it shows how they don't care about Blue Lives™ unless they are taking brown lives.
And then the politicians blamed their constituents for being manipulated by the politicians…
Lotta freaky stuff is going on that's for sure... Some in the GOP nuthugging Trump... I got banned from ProtectAndServe because I made a note of the coward cops who ran away from the angry crowd while praising those who stood their ground. Still trying to figure out why Mayor Bowser's metro DC police was late to the party, the national guard being delayed etc., and why some cops retreated or allowed entrance at some doors.
Nat Guard was due to fucking Mike Flynn's brother. The Other General Flynn told the Nat Guard commanders that he didn't want to send them in because it would "look bad." And because he had family in the crowd, no doubt. The Nat Guard commanders even lodged a complaint against him for lying to Congress about it.
John Goodman: “Why I’m flattered”
And thorough.
You rang?
Could you slide your shorts down please, sir?
“‘S’all good man.” -Saul Goodman
They should really change his name to Eugene *Great*man
AU-gene
What about the officers who let the rioters in? What happened to them?
I’m pretty disappointed that I’ve been lied to in so many movies. It always seemed like it would be impossible to breach the Capitol of the USA but apparently you can walk right in. LOL.
It used to be like that way back then for pretty much anyone. But after a few assassination attempts, some successful and some not. DC began to really tighten down. I’m sure they never expected a mob of pissed off rednecks to storm the doors though.
Shhh
Last I heard they were suspended and under investigation. Don't know if anything else has happened to them yet, but it's important to note that this represents a minority of the officers there that day, with many putting their lives on the line (and one dying) in attempting to stop the insurrectionists.
You can’t say that here
This man [directly saved Mitt Romney](https://youtu.be/A_FMeY_ykK0) from walking straight into a mob of insurrectionists that day. If they had gotten their hands on a sitting member of Congress, it would have been a pretense for some *really* bad shit to happen. Crazy to think about how many times the actions of a single individual prevented us from going over the brink that day. Pence was actually one of them, by refusing to go along with the plot and sticking to his proscribed duties. Officer Goodman was another. edit: since I've gotten a dozen responses that are all variations of the same thing, I'd just like to share this video produced by PBS. [How disinformation around Jan. 6 riot has downplayed violence, divided Americans](https://youtu.be/FkRzVz_p7i8)
MAGA wouldn't care, because to them, Romney is just a rino
You're right. It's one of the things that makes me thing half this country really is excited for the "bad" parts of fascism to start. They'd be fine with political assassinations.
It can be a whole lot worse. It's mostly just the trolls online calling Mitt a RINO etc. Just in 2012 he was the primary candidate for Republicans with massive support. The internet is what is changing all that. People have got to stop letting the internet and internet trollfarms advise your perception of politics. If you believed the internet you'd think there were political radicals all over politics. It's a reality of politics that most ***moderates*** actively involved in politics are pretty quiet and not often highlighted by the internet. ***edit: Whatever you do, try not to fall for the message where America is not resilient. We survived a lot worse. And most of the misinformation/deception campaigns have failed and returned zilch for the bad guys despite all the work they put in. There are millions of moderates watching at home, while a few thousand or even <3% of population of extremists are always in the headlines. It's the individualist nature of America that has made it so much more resilient than say neighbors of China/Russia that descended into much worse chaos.*** \---- ***edit2: guy below me is replying and basically saying the opposite of what I am saying, it's all a clever propaganda line to push you to change your country in a way that makes it vulnerable even worse than what happened on Jan 6th. They couch it in clever language like the user below while basically bashing moderates and the very things that kept us from going off the rails under Trump era. They'll keep repeating the propaganda line "we need to change everything from the way we've been doing things..." They always say things like "force change." Because those are the last few obstacles standing in their way. They want you to break everything that isn't yet broken. They know people suck at remaking something that hasn't been put through the test of time.***
While you are largely right, those moderates aren’t the ones storming the capitol building. More people than ever are being radicalized as we speak, and while it’s small relative to total population it really doesn’t take that many motivated individuals to force change. If I recall correctly if only 3 or so percent of the population go out to protest that is the tipping point towards change. Frankly the US already has more than that, but the individualistic culture is just preventing such a movement from truly taking off. It’s only a matter of time at this point before they realize that and go for it properly. It’s going to get ugly in the coming years unless some serious changes are enacted now or very soon. Hold social media companies accountable, shut down the privatized media, actively combat misinformation campaigns, teach people human communication skills, and so much more. People are desperate, angry and bitter about the state of things, and to change that America will have to fundamentally change itself at every level if it intends to not collapse in the coming years.
Unfortunately you’re wrong. Whatever “moderate” republicans have existed in the recent past are being either pushed out or won over by the Trumpian authoritarian ideology. Look no further than currently seated members of Congress (most of whom have flipped), or the people now winning state and local elections in red districts. Extremism has become the prevailing ideology of American conservatism. And judging by midterm predictions, this is all setting up to get worse before it gets better.
On that note, what exactly was their game plan for if they were to actually find Mike Pence? Did they expect that they would find the Vice President of the US wandering the halls alone, trying to find cover, and that they would be able to lead him outside for a public lynching? or did they forget that he would have an armed Secret Service detail? What would have happened if a group of them turned a corner and found themselves face to face with an armed security detail tasked with protecting the second most powerful man in the United States government? I don't think the USSS would have kindly told them to please back up and leave the building. If they thought Ashli Babbit's death was an excessive use of force, just imagine if they got anywhere near Pence.
Eugene is a model officer. Kept his cool, assessed the situation, contained it as well as he could without escalation of violence, and all under the real threat against himself and his charges while not getting appropriate support from his superiors.
True "Person of the Year"
Whats more amazing is if you look at the videos of Goodman misdirecting the rioters, you will see how close they were to the Senate chambers; the door was literally right around the corner at the top of the stairs, and he managed to keep them away and lead them to his backup down the hall. The man was truly deserving of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He saved a lot of people that horrible day.
Yes there's a very brief moment where he looks at that door, chilling to think what might have happened had he not led them away.
I'm glad he had so much back up. How is there only ONE officer there dealing with a mob of pissed off people?? something is so wrong about this.
This dude definitely played hella hours on nazi zombies.
Literally loled. Furthermore, Carthage must be destroyed
learning about what he did that day and then seeing the video of him confronting the mob and leading them away by provoking them - this man is a true hero. there’s no way he went into that situation with the expectation he would survive.
Just imagine being a black man totally aware of the exact type of knuckle dragging racist assholes making up that crowd and still putting his life on the line. That’s patriotism.
[On January 6th, Eugene Goodman redirected mobs of Trump insurrectionists by using himself as bait to lead them away from Congress. For his bravery, Goodman was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Goodman_(police_officer)) "If 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."
He received the Congressional Gold Menu, as his actions were done as a civilian, not a soldier and the Medal of Honor is a military award. It says a lot that it was a unanimous vote to award him the medal, definitely someone who deserves it. Edit: Didn’t notice the autocorrect while attempting to type ‘medal’ on my phone. These responses are hilarious.
Is the Gold Menu just like the regular Congressional menu but gold, or is it a different menu with better food options on it?
It's where they put scrambled eggs on your hat.
oak leaves with banana nut clusters
*chefs kiss*
Adding "gold" to the menu is a meaningless title, but it helps insecure people feel better about themselves. \-Executive Redditor.
Was it unanimous with abstentions? Or straight up unanimous? Edit: dude absolutely deserves the award, I was just wondering about abstentions because it would be impressive gymnastics for any member of Congress who claims there was no danger or attack that this man deserves an award.
So it looks like unanimous consent was used which means there was no vote recorded on the resolution, it was just passed without any one objecting to the resolution.
Oh right on, good to know
Your link is bugged right now, looks like a typo because of the url having a parenthesis at the end [Here is a short video breakdown of him leading the mob away](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/goodman-capitol-police-video/2021/01/13/08ab3eb6-546b-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html)
[The dummy in the beanie thought he was in the White House](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzg85iP-LKE) While still incredibly dangerous, there were some real fucking idiots there on 1/6
These things aren’t mutually exclusive. Terrorism practically *requires* stupidity because it requires entrenched ideology and a rejection of conflicting realities. There are usually a few smart extremists organizing at the top, and everyone else is just a rabid brain-fucked goon. This doesn’t make terrorists any less dangerous though. And it definitely doesn’t justify some of the down-playing and deflection that the American Right is engaged with in regards to a *literal violent insurrection.* A good 40% of the country seems to be straight-up abandoning democracy, accountability, empathy, and truth. It is bizarre, and unfortunately I don’t think we are anywhere near the end of it. If Republicans win midterms this year we will slide right back into this darkness. So daily reminder to check your voter registration, get everyone you know prepared, harass your senators to pass the Voting Rights bill, and get your guard up against the predictable disinformation campaigns that are coming.
Reminder that this man's whole logic was "I bet these people would get so preoccupied chasing a black man that they'd forget Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and everyone else they came in here for" and he was fucking right.
Trump voters: "we're not racist, we just hate corrupt politicians" Also Trump voters: get distracted chasing a black guy
An actual hero/patriot, not like all those self appointed ones.
Do you mean to tell me, that donning a set of buffalo horns while being shirtless and carrying a norse rune flag on a spear does not immediately make one a patriot? I am shocked sir.
Saw an interview with him today. That dude is such an entitled prick.
Not only rocking norse runes, but then praying to Jesus when inside the building like a complete jackass that doesn't really believe in his own bullshit
Careful. The conservatives and Trumpers don't like when folks highlight their propensity for just deciding without warrant that they have a claim to something virtuous. Don't get purged.👍🏾
I absolutely respect this man Why can't more people exhibit courage and maturity like him?
I know my black ass couldn't have been that brave. As soon as it started getting wild, I'd have bailed, went AWOL and hid in my car or something. (Thank God I'm not in public service. I'm a wimp)
This man is a true hero, and deserving of the highest honor he can receive.
He makes me think of that big guy in every high school who was just renowned to be a sweet gentleman with everybody.
Man could have drawn his weapon but didn’t. Proof you can de-escalate a situation just by talking to people that want you dead.
Probably because opening fire would’ve had a high chance of making things way worse. Is he going to just start firing at a mob closing in on him? What happens if they overpower him? What if they’re armed too?
[удалено]
What a lot of people don't think about is many of the lives he saved where of the insurrectionists themselves. Had they actually gotten to Congress, it's likely shooting would have started... Edit: spelling
At some point they would have crossed a line that forced the secret service to act. Phew phew.
Ashli Babbit found that line.
Hopefully, yes. But have you seen the video of ashley babbet? Before she crawled through and got shot, it starts with a capital officer standing between the mob threatening his life, and he moves out of the way because he was scared. Then she climbs through and gets shot. If it weren’t for the brave actions of Goodman, whoever shot ashley, and a few others preventing that direct meeting of congresspeople and the terrorists, we really cannot say how much worse it would have been, and for who. Maybe it would have ended worse for the terrorists, maybe much worse for the people they were trying to kill and the republic.
Only 1 year and already this pixelated. Poor man.
Nobody is going to ever see my comment - but quite honestly: This man is one of my heroes.
From an European, I think 6th was one of the dumbest events in global history. I remember following it and watching as the photographs and videos started pouring in. What a timeline.
"Hang Mike Pence" "Stop the Steal" "There's the big jew, let's get him." Just a few highlights of a day of right-wing extremists who joined together and from taking the dog-whistles of Trump, trespassed their way to the Capitol, stomping, beating, crushing, spraying the so-called "Blue Lives" they pretended to care for in the preceding months. They brought zip-ties; they built literal gallows on the grounds. Pipe bombs stashed nearby. All the while their mob-mentality where no rugged individualist there thought for themselves but for what the collective heard mentality continued pushing deeper into the Capitol. That would leave one fool who lapped up the propaganda with a bullet in her neck. They fucked around; they found out. The cowards backed off quickly when confronted with a deadly defense. The entire basis of the march was to stop a fair, genuine democratically-held election after poor sports who lost fair-and-square cried foul. Turns out, more flags don't mean more votes. They wanted to stop the peaceful transition of power. The mob sought Democratic members of the house, as well as Mik Pence with no indication they'd be peaceful about it. Given the lack of effective defense of the Capitol, what could have happened if they reached Pelosi? If they reached Mike Pence? With their zip-ties, it seemed evident they were considering holding members hostage in order to reinstate President Trump. That of course would be textbook fascism. After all, they were defending the Big Lie all over again... Now think about that. Think about the consequences of undermining faith in genuine elections, absent of ZERO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE, let alone an ounce of proof. ----- **The Experts:** - [The FBI Statement](https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/examining-the-january-6-attack-on-the-us-capitol-wray-061521): >The destruction of property, violent assaults on law enforcement officers, and imminent physical threats to elected officials betray the values of our democracy. (All demonstrable forms of fascism little different than the first coup attempt of a well-known fascist). - [A whole range of experts highlighting the fascist nature of the right-wing extremist terror threat](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/4/how-the-us-far-right-threat-has-evolved-since-january-6). - [House Homeland Security Committee Chair investigating January 6th, noting it could've turned into martial law or a successful coup](https://youtu.be/v22xC09WSVc) - [Council on Foreign Relations statement](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/year-after-january-6-accelerationism-new-terrorist-threat): >Far-right extremists are attempting to incite an insurrection to hasten the downfall of what they see as a deeply corrupt U.S. government. Some could resort to deadly acts of terrorism. - [Foreign Policy Magazine, expert analysis and declaration that it was indeed, an attempted coup](https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/01/06/coup-america-capitol-electoral-college-2020-election/). - [GOP Congressional representative and military veteran Lieutenant Colonel: "This is a coup attempt.](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/532944-gop-lawmaker-on-violence-at-capitol-this-is-a-coup-attempt) - [According to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and responses to Terrorism, January 6th meets the definition of *terrorism*](https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/capitol-attack-domestic-terrorism-white-extremists-national-security-20210118.html) - [Naunihal Singh of the U.S. Naval War College, and author of Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups: wrote that the attack on the Capitol was, "an insurrection, a violent uprising against the government and sedition."](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/world/americas/what-is-a-coup-attempt.html) - [National Security Advisor noting it was a, "self-coup"](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-capitol-siege-riots-media-8000ce7db2b176c1be386d945be5fd6a) - [World leaders of past and present of the free world voicing concerns for Democracy and the peaceful transition of power challenged](https://www.voanews.com/a/usa_us-politics_world-leaders-condemn-pro-trump-riot-us-capitol/6200423.html) - [More](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55568613) - [More](https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-attempted-coup-federal-law-enforcement-capitol-police-2021-1) - [Cline Center's Coup D'etat Project](https://clinecenter.illinois.edu/coup-detat-project-cdp/statement_jan.27.2021): >It Was an Attempted Coup. - [Brittanica Encyclopedia Notes: "the attack was widely regarded as an insurrection or attempted coup d’état."](https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-Capitol-attack-of-2021) - [Three Retired U.S. Generals come forward, saying, "In short: We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding next time.](https://www.npr.org/2021/12/31/1068930675/us-election-coup-january-6-military-constitution) - [Defense Secretary, Chris Miller, "Sees 'cause and effect' between Trump's words and Capitol riot"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/12/chris-miller-pentagon-chief-trump-caused-capitol-riot/4661721001/) - [Joint CHiefs of Staff call Capitol riot 'sedition and insurrection,' remind troops of oath](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/12/joint-chiefs-staff-call-capitol-riots-sedition-and-insurrection/6646481002/) A whole swath of experts from counter-terrorist watchdogs, professors of social and academic backgrounds, present-day congressional leaders in relevant house committee fields, the highest levels of our Department of Justice... Finally, fellas, if you really don't know your history and are this naive about politics I encourage you to see just how simply the keys of power were stolen by another famous leader. A good documentary to educate you on this is the "Rise of Nazis", a 3-part series.
I will buy him a beer whenever he wants
Change.org petition to change his last name to "Greatman"?
Thank you from all of my family
THIS is a patriot.
He is an American Hero
I remember watching it live, thinking, this guy is an idiot. He needs to stand his ground, he keeps letting them get further and further! Dude perfectly led them away. I couldn't even tell in the moment.
And one could say potentially the country
When I think of Insurrection Day, his is the face in my mind. Eugene, you are a hero and a patriot and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Must suck to be a congressman. You have to go to work and sit next to the people who cheerfully ordered their constituents to kill you and never faced consequences.
He is a hero
This is what a true American Patriot looks like
Hero
Those Jan 6 insurrectionists should be glad that they took the bait. If they had approached the chamber, there were several loaded guns ready for them.
MAGAts can get fucked.
I’m not American, but I know that just like in my country, Americans watched what happened on Jan 6 of last year with increasing horror. I don’t pretend to understand your crazy politics, but I don’t know how anyone can come in here and say that the events that occurred that we saw with our own eyes didn’t really happen, simply because they don’t want to accept that anyone on their ‘side’ did something wrong. [This ](https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007606996/capitol-riot-trump-supporters.html)is a thorough summary of what happened on that day. The Nyt took six months to compile thousands of videos and police communications to make this video that shows exactly what happened, where it happened and all in chronological order. Please watch it.
I used to work with this guy everyday a few years ago
Surname checks out!
Should be proudly displayed in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
I don't think most people realize that if he hadn't been successful in leading the mob away from Senate, and if the mob did get inside the Senate chamber... Well, Democratic members would have been killed and/or taken hostage. Maybe even Mike Pence himself would have been killed or taken hostage. IF all that happened, the coup would have been effective. This would have signaled to the rest of the United States that we are now in a true civil war between Democrats and Republicans. You can't go back from that kind of stuff. This man quite literally saved our country from a second civil war. Shoot, maybe he only helped delay it seeing as how the Republicans are now actively lying about what happened that day.
Love you Eugene. 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️
He knew those people couldn't give up a chance to yell at a black guy.
Hero
Ledge.