Officer Eugene Goodman, an Iraq War veteran turned police officer, was on duty at the Capitol building on 6 January 2021. As pro-Trump rioters made their way through the building, Goodman, who was guarding a corridor and stairs that led to the Senate Chamber, where senators were holed up, faced a choice. Outnumbered, how was he to face down this mob chanting "U-S-A" and “Where they countin’ the votes?”
His answer was to use himself as bait to lure the protestors to a different floor where he was able to receive backup. Goodman was Black. The rioters, some of whom carried the confederate flag, were all white.
In the past two decades, hostility in American politics has shot up. It is not always based on ideological positions but instead fomented in a dislike and distrust of different groups, a phenomenon known as 'affective polarisation'.
