Amid the cacophony from the Capitol seat, a key officer remains silent

In the week since a mob besieged at the U.S. Capitol, the House impeached President Donald Trump. Dozens of people have been arrested across the country for participating in the riots. Politicians and business leaders loudly condemn violence. Twitter and other social media sites have banned Trump and thousands of other accounts.

Yet, amid all the noise, a Capitol Hill police officer hailed as a hero for confronting the insurgents and driving them away from the Senate chambers remained silent.

Officer Eugene Goodman does not say if he thinks he saved the Senate, as many millions of people who have viewed the video believe. In fact, Goodman doesn’t say anything publicly – neither to reporters nor on social media. And he asked the union, bosses, family and friends of the force to help him preserve his privacy and not publicly discuss the events of January 6.

But the video says it all.

Goodman, a black man facing a predominantly white crowd, is the only officer seen for a full minute of footage, taken by HuffPost reporter Igor Bobic. Goodman stands in front of the rioters, walking backwards until he reaches a collapsible baton on the ground and picks it up. “Save … save it!” he shouts, keeping his eyes on the crowd. He turns and walks up the stairs, waving the stick, as the group follows.

Goodman calls “second floor” on his radio, then takes a quick glance and half a step to his left at the top of the stairs. There are two chairs on either side of an entrance to the US Senate Chamber, a short walk away. Dozens of rioters are right in front of him, no other officer to see.

Goodman pushes one of the rioters and walks to the right, away from the room. The crowd follows them and Goodman leads them into a room where other officers are waiting.

The time for the video is 2:14 p.m. The Senate stopped its work to begin cleaning the chamber at 2:15 p.m.

Five died in the riots, including one of Goodman’s fellow officers. Legislative offices were ransacked, gallows were built outside, and video showed a woman shot dead as journalists, members of Congress and staff hid.

Images of Goodman have spread via social media and news sites, a nod to the bloody and messy scenes elsewhere on Capitol Hill. People called him brave, impressive, efficient. They dissected the video, guessing his strategy and decision making.

But not all of the comments have been kind. Backing up and running away is weak, according to some. It was a staged photoshoot, according to others.

Goodman remained silent. He did not respond to text messages and phone calls the Associated Press left at potential numbers for him. The Capitol Police Union chief only said Goodman didn’t want to talk to reporters. Spokeswoman Eva Malecki said Capitol Police do not give interviews or discuss Goodman’s actions.

The public records shed some light on Goodman. He served in the army as an infantryman for more than four years, leaving with the rank of sergeant in December 2006 after a year in Iraq. He has worked for the Capitol Police since at least mid-2009.

But that’s about all. Goodman’s friends, family, buddies he allegedly knew from the military, members of Congress and force colleagues have all requested interviews about him. They say he wants to preserve his privacy.

Online and in the public eye, Goodman is a hero. Many people, famous and not, have suggested that he won the Medal of Honor. A Republican and two Democrats in the United States House introduced a bill Thursday to give him the Congressional Gold Medal.

“Without the swift, decisive and heroic actions of Officer Goodman, the tragedy of last week’s insurgency could have escalated to levels never seen in American history,” said Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver II from Missouri.

But representatives did not respond to messages asking if they had met Goodman. In a tweet promoting the bill, they don’t show an official photo of Goodman in uniform, but an image of him facing the crowd – eyes wide open, mask under his nose, stick behind him.

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AP news researcher Randy Herschaft contributed.

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Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.