Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman Will Throw The First Pitch At A Nationals Game

U.S. Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, hailed as a hero for his bravery during the attack on the U.S. Capitol, will throw out the first pitch at an upcoming Washington Nationals home game, the team says.

Goodman is slated to throw the ceremonial pitch on June 18, when the Nationals kick off their weekend series against the New York Mets.

It's the latest honor for the officer whose quick thinking was credited with helping to keep the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection from escalating even further.

In widely seen footage, Goodman, who is Black, was seen trying to corral a mob of mainly white Trump supporters who were looking to interrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Goodman left his gun in its holster — but crucially, he led the crowd away from the door leading to the Senate floor, sending them instead up some stairs in an effort to buy time for lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence to reach secure parts of the complex.

Another video later emerged that shows Goodman sprinting down a hallway in the Capitol — and directing Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to turn around and take a side corridor, to get away from the mob that had breached the Capitol's defenses.

"I was very fortunate indeed that Officer Goodman was there to get me in the right direction," Romney later said.

This is just the latest honor for Goodman

Two weeks after the brief insurrection, Goodman was selected to escort Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Inauguration Day. He has also been promoted to be the acting deputy Senate sergeant-at-arms.

In February, the Senate voted unanimously to award Goodman the Congressional Gold Medal, the institution's highest honor.

The Senate bill honoring Goodman says that his "selfless and quick-thinking actions doubtlessly saved lives and bought security personnel precious time to secure and ultimately evacuate the Senate before the armed mob breached the Chamber."

The House followed suit with its own resolution a month later, approving legislation that also recognizes others of the hundreds of Capitol and Washington, D.C., officers who faced off with rioters that day — including Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith.

Sicknick died after being injured in the attack. Liebengood and Smith died by suicide days after the riot. [Copyright 2021 NPR]