Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney sought out acting deputy Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Eugene Goodman after the impeachment trial session Wednesday to thank him for protecting him during the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, NBC News reports.
“I expressed my appreciation to him for coming to my aid and getting me back into the path of safety and expressed my appreciation for all that he did that day,” Romney said.
Romney told reporters that he hadn’t seen the security camera footage aired during the hearing previously, and he didn’t know how close he was to the mob of insurrectionists when Goodman instructed him to return to the Senate chamber.
“Officer Goodman came and saw me and said go back in, it’s not safe here go back in and you’ll be safer in the chamber so I came back in, and took my seat,” Romney said.
Goodman has been lauded as a hero for provoking a large group of insurrectionists to follow him, drawing them away from the Senate chamber seconds after Vice President Mike Pence had been escorted in the opposite direction. A Capitol Police officer, Goodman was named acting deputy Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate and escorted Vice President Kamala Harris at her inauguration January 20th.