New security footage shows the chilling moment police officer Eugene Goodman frantically turned Republican Senator Mitt Romney away from a mob of pro-Trump rioters during the 6 January attack on the United States Capitol.
The powerful footage was played during Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial on Thursday, shedding light on the true extent of the violence as protesters overran the Capitol building and sent politicians fleeing.
In one video, Mr Goodman - - can be seen running down a hallway and frantically gesturing for the Republican Senator to turn away from the mob.
After he was warned, Senator Romney, who is a vocal critic of Mr Trump, can be seen running in the opposite direction towards safety.
"On the first floor, just beneath them, the mob had already started to search for the Senate chamber," said Stacey Plaskett, one of the Democratic impeachment managers.
In another video from the day, former Vice President Mike Pence and his family are seen being rushed away by Secret Service officers as the rioters called for his death.
“They were within 100 feet of where the vice president was sheltering with his family, and they were just feet away from the doors of this chamber where many of you remained at that time,” Senator Plaskett said.
She referred to an interactive model showing the movement of Mr Pence as rioters made their way through the building, just metres away.
“The mob was looking for Vice President Pence because of his patriotism - because the Vice President refused to do what the president demanded and overturn the election results," she added.
The dramatic security vision also showed rioters entering the Capitol building after smashing windows and doors at the building's entry.
Rioters can be seen in the footage breaking the window with a wooden beam, some wearing tactical vests and carrying weapons and riot shields.
The Democratic impeachment prosecutors labelled Mr Trump the "inciter-in-chief" during their first day of evidence, accusing him of providing the catalyst for the deadly insurrection at the Capitol, months before it took place.
Mr Trump's campaign to have the results overturned came to a head on 6 November, they said, when he held a rally in Washington while Congress worked to certify the results.
During the rally, he encouraged his supporters to march on Washington and "fight like hell".
During the subsequent riot, five people died including a woman who was shot after breaking into the building, and one police officer.
With AFP
