Honoring The Black Heroes Of The Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
Source: JIM LO SCALZO / Getty
Two years ago today, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in what was one of the most jaw-dropping moments in U.S. history.
America stood still that day.
Folks were glued to the television screen for hours as they watched Trump supporters beat on Capitol police, break windows and doors to breach the Capitol building, and even call for the hanging of political officials, including Trump’s Vice President Mike Pence. It was truly a terrifying sight to witness.
The purpose of the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally was to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden‘s presidential election. The entire rally was based on “the big lie” that nonexistent voter fraud played a role in Biden’s victory over Donald Trump The violent uprising left five people dead and hundreds injured.
But, even with the destruction and terror, some brave Americans stood up to the racist and bigoted mob in their own ways.
Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman
When the angry mob entered the capitol, there didn’t seem to be much resistance in the form of security or police. But amid the craziness was Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman. This one-man army was able to single-handedly fight back and lure the domestic terrorists storming the Capitol toward backup without resorting to lethal force. The feat was utterly amazing!
Thank you Officer Eugene Goodman!
: @nytimes pic.twitter.com/18pNj70HtQ— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) January 11, 2021
Goodman, who was only wielding a baton despite being armed with a service weapon, at times pushed the angry mob back before retreating up some stairs. At least one person who appeared to be leading the mob was wearing a shirt emblazoned by QAnon, a group of conspiracy theorists who have repeated Donald Trump‘s baseless claims of election fraud.
Officer Eugene Goodman, distracted and led the Capitol mob past the door on his left and up the stairs to his right. The unlocked and unsecured door on his left was actually the entrance to the Senate Chamber, where many were hiding.
This man is a SHERO. pic.twitter.com/aSbon16TRi
— Amee-Hakeem Jeffries is the man-Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) January 11, 2021
Capitol Police Officer Lt. Michael Byrd
Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd was put in one of the toughest positions of anyone just trying to do their job on Jan 6. 2021. When the angry mob of white Trump supporters attempted to break into a sealed-off part of the Capitol building, Byrd was the first line of defense. His job was to protect our elected officials and that’s exactly what he did, shooting a member of that mob named Ashli Babbitt as she tried to get through the door.
In an interview with NBC News, Byrd explained to Lester Holt that him and a few other officers set up furniture to block the door to the room where 60 to 80 House members were being kept safe from the pack of wild MAGA enthusiasts who were attacking the Capitol.
Lt. Michael Byrd, who shot Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt during the Capitol riot, says he has been in hiding for months after he received a flood of death threats and racist attacks.
“I believe I showed the utmost courage on Jan. 6 and it's time for me to do that now" pic.twitter.com/2kaAxy8yGc
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 26, 2021
“Once we barricaded the doors, we were essentially trapped where we were,” Byrd said. “There was no way to retreat. No other way to get out. If they get through that door, they’re into the House chamber and upon the members of Congress.”
Byrd said he shouted at rioters several times for them to back away from the glass door they were smashing to get into the barricaded area, and that’s when Ashli Babbitt tried to climb through one of the doors resulting in Byrd shooting her.
“I tried to wait as long as I could,” he told Holt. “I hoped and prayed no one tried to enter through those doors. But their failure to comply required me to take the appropriate action to save the lives of members of Congress and myself and my fellow officers.”
Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn
U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn was also on the front lines during the Capitol attack. He was among four police officers who testified before the House Select Committee investigating the attacks. During his emotional testimony, he recalled his experience responding to the Capitol rioters. He described it as being largely racist in nature. He testified that “no one had ever, ever called me ni**er while wearing the uniform of a Capitol Police Officer” until Jan. 6.
Dunn testified that the experience compelled him to pull aside another Black officer with the U.S. Capitol Police in disbelief.
“I sat down on a bench in the rotunda with a friend of mine who is also a black Capitol police officer and told him about the racial slurs I endured,” Dunn said. “I became very emotional and began yelling, ‘how the blank could something like this happen. Is this America?'”
Dunn summed it all up neatly: “It was just so overwhelming and so disheartening and disappointing that we live in a country with people like that.”
Dunn’s testimony gave us a front-row seat into the minds of the protestors. Without his account, we wouldn’t have a first-hand account of the visceral racism that took place during the insurrection.
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn recounts the racial abuse he experienced during the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 while giving his testimony during the hearing of the special congressional panel investigating the riots. pic.twitter.com/rVai44QBXp
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 27, 2021
Ruby Freeman & Shaye Moss
The mother-daughter duo of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss testified before the Jan. 6 Committee, detailing the harassment and targeting that began between the 2020 general election and the 2021 Georgia Senate Runoff election.
During her video testimony, Freeman shared the horror of having the president use his platform and power to attack her by name. Both mother and daughter described fearing for their safety. Previous reports documented countless threats of violence, with no law enforcement agency intervening to protect them in the months after the election.
Ruby Freeman: "There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the President of the United States target you?" pic.twitter.com/S85MZhxSTf
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 21, 2022
Moss shared that when she discovered hateful messages on social media, her mother said she was lucky it was 2020 instead of 1920. She’s also fortunate it wasn’t 1964.
Donald Trump is still harassing Ruby Freeman.
According to MSNBC, Trump recently used his platform to randomly resume his one-sided beef with the former Georgia election worker.
“Wow! Has anyone seen the Ruby Freeman ‘contradictions’ of her sworn testimony?” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social aka Racist Reject Twitter. “Now this is ‘BIG STUFF.’ Look what was captured by Cobb County police body cameras on January 4, 2021. … Now it gets really bad.”
Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss’ testimony gave an inside look at the harassment culture that Trump constantly used to get his way.
Election workers like Shaye Moss were brutally harassed after being named in Trump's false claims that they committed election fraud.
Conspiracy theorists sent "a lot of threats," said Moss. They were "wishing death upon me, telling me that I'll be in jail with my mother." pic.twitter.com/VTcM8G81IZ
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) June 22, 2022
Without the bravery of these fine men and women, we wouldn’t have the insight to understand how tragic the Jan. 6 insurrection really was. Let’s come together and give these great heroes and heroines a huge thank you for standing up in the face of violence, racism and bigotry.
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