A police officer lauded for his bravery during the US Capitol riot has told a court that a man carrying a Confederate battle flag jabbed at him with the flagpole before joining the mob that chased him up a staircase.
In his first public evidence since the January 6 2021 siege, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman described his encounter with the flag-toting Delaware man, Kevin Seefried, and his adult son Hunter at their trial on charges that they stormed the Capitol together.
Officer Goodman has been hailed as a hero for leading a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber and up a set of stairs to an area where other officers were waiting. He also directed senator Mitt Romney to turn around and head away from the mob.
Officer Goodman recalled seeing Kevin Seefried standing alone in an archway and telling him to leave. Instead, Seefried cursed and jabbed at him with the base end of the flagpole three or four times, he said
“He was very angry. Screaming. Talking loudly,” Officer Goodman said. “Complete opposite of pleasant.”
US District Judge Trevor McFadden is hearing evidence without a jury for the Seefrieds’ bench trial, which started on Monday. The Seefrieds waived their right to a jury trial, which means Judge McFadden will decide their cases.
Widely published photographs showed Kevin Seefried carrying a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol after he and his son entered the building through a broken window.
The charges against the Seefrieds include a felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
During the trial’s opening statements, defence lawyers said the Seefrieds never intended to interfere with the Electoral College vote count.
“Indeed, (Kevin Seefried) was not even aware that the electoral count was happening or was happening in the Capitol,” one of his lawyers, Elizabeth Mullin, told the judge.
Officer Goodman said Kevin Seefried was standing next to a rioter who profanely asked where members of Congress were and where they would be counting votes. The officer said it was clear to him that the rioters were there to disrupt the proceedings.
“Were you concerned for your safety?” assistant US attorney Brittany Reed asked him.
“Yes,” Officer Goodman said.
Before his encounter with the mob inside the Capitol, Officer Goodman joined other officers in trying to hold back rioters as they clashed with police outside the building.
“It was like something out of medieval times, with one huge force clashing with another opposing force,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like that ever.”
He said he had to retreat inside the building after getting pepper sprayed and exposed to tear gas deployed by police.
The Seefrieds are not accused of assaulting any officers.
Ms Mullin conceded that Kevin Seefried is guilty of two misdemeanour charges that he knowingly entered a restricted building and illegally demonstrated in the Capitol.
Hunter Seefried, then 22, may have acted “stupidly” but did not intend to block Congress from certifying the election results, defence lawyer Edson Bostic said.
The Seefrieds travelled to Washington from their home in Delaware to hear Mr Trump’s speech at the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6.
They climbed over a wall near a stairwell and scaffolding in the north-west section of the Capitol and were among the first rioters to approach the building near the Senate Wing Door, according to prosecutors.
After watching other rioters use a police shield and a wooden plank to break a window, Hunter Seefried used a gloved fist to clear a shard of glass in one of the broken windowpanes, prosecutors said.
In a court filing, prosecutors said the Confederate battle flag that Kevin Seefried brought from home was “a symbol of violent opposition to the United States government”.
Ms Mullin said he did not intend “to send any kind of message” by carrying the flag into the Capitol and regrets doing so.
