'National hero': US Capitol Police officer hailed for protecting Senate from mob

A police officer has become an internet celebrity for his role in steering the pro-Trump protesters away from the US Senate chambers when they stormed inside the Capitol building on January 7. Angered by the defeat of US President Donald Trump and triggered by his baseless claims of ‘election fraud’, the angry mob took over one of the most iconic American building engulfing chaos in the Capitol. However, in the confrontation, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, identified by CNN, was pictured getting the rioters to move away from the Senate singlehandedly while the law enforcement raced to secure the house.

Further, Goodman had put himself between a man wearing a black T-shirt for the QAnon conspiracy movement and the hallway that leads to the Senate chambers. Goodman then shoved the person to induce him and the crowd to chase him toward officers in the other direction. Lauding his courage, US Representative Bill Pascrell said on Twitter on January 10, “As trump’s fascist mob ransacked the US Capitol, this brave USCP officer kept murderous rioters away from the Senate chamber and saved the lives of those inside. God bless him for his courage.”

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Donald Trump's Twitter account suspended

While Goodman was lauded on Twitter, Donald Trump's account was permanently suspended from the platform. Throughout the four years of Trump administration, the US President's posts on Twitter were either flagged, removed, restricted or even banned on the platform. Trump was irked by the microblogging platform being 'discriminatory' or 'silencing the truth'. Twitter after US Capitol siege said, "After reviewing of tweets from the Donald Trump account and the context around them — how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence”. 

It added, "In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open”. 

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