In his first public statement since the siege on January 6, 2021, Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman described his meeting with Delaware’s husband, Kevin Seefried, and his adult son, Hunter, at their trial on charges that invaded the Capitol together. Goodman has been hailed as a hero because he drove a group of rioters away from the Senate chamber and climbed a series of stairs to an area where other officers were waiting. Goodman also asked Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, to turn around and walk away from the mob. Goodman recalled seeing Kevin Sifrind standing alone in an arch and telling him to leave. Instead, Seefried insulted him and hit the officer with the tip of his flagpole three or four times without coming into contact with him, Goodman said. “He was very angry. Screaming. “Speaking loudly,” Goodman said. “Absolute opposite of pleasant.” U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden is hearing an affidavit for the Seefrieds trial, which began Monday. The Seefrieds have relinquished their right to a jury trial, which means McFadden will decide on their cases. Widely published photos showed Kevin Seefried carrying a Confederate battle flag inside the Capitol as he and his son entered the building through a broken window. The charges against Kevin and Hunter Sifrind include a felony for obstructing a formal process, a joint congressional hearing to confirm Joe Biden’s victory over then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. During the trial’s opening remarks, defense attorneys said Seefried never intended to interfere in the Electoral College vote. “Indeed, (Kevin Seefried) did not even know that the vote count was taking place or was taking place in the Capitol,” one of his lawyers, Elizabeth Mullin, told the judge. Goodman, however, testified that Kevin Sifrind was standing next to a troublemaker who asked abusively where members of Congress were and where they would count the votes. Goodman said it was clear to him that the rioters were there to stop the process. “Were you worried about your safety?” Asked by Assistant Attorney General Brittany Reed. “Yes,” said Goodman. Prior to his encounter with the mob inside the Capitol, Goodman joined other officers in trying to contain the rioters as they clashed with police outside the building. “It was like something from medieval times, with a huge force colliding with another rival force,” Goodman said. “I have never seen anything like it.” Goodman said he had to retreat into the building after being sprayed with pepper and exposed to tear gas used by police. Seefried are not charged with assaulting officers. Mullin pleaded guilty to two counts of felony criminal mischief for allegedly entering a forbidden building and protesting illegally at the Capitol. Hunter Seifrid, then 22, may have acted “foolishly” but he did not intend to prevent Congress from certifying the election results, said defense attorney Enson Bostic. Goodman recalled Hunter Sifrid smirking, but did not see him behave aggressively or hear him shout at police. “He just did not obey orders,” Goodman said. The Seefried traveled to Washington from their home in Laurel, Delaware, to hear Trump speak at the “Stop the Steal” rally on January 6. They climbed over a wall near a staircase and a scaffolding in the northwestern part of the Capitol and were among the first rioters to approach the building near the Senate Wing, according to prosecutors. After watching other rioters use a police shield and a wooden board to break a window, Hunter Seefried used a gloved fist to clear a piece of glass in one of the broken windows, prosecutors said. In a court statement, prosecutors said the Confederate battle flag carried by Kevin Seefrid from home was “a symbol of violent opposition to the United States government.” Mullin said Seefried did not intend to “send any kind of message” by carrying the flag to the Capitol and regrets doing so. McFadden, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, is the only judge to have tried a case in the Capitol riots so far. In April, he acquitted New Mexico resident Matthew Martin of misdemeanors for entering the Capitol illegally and engaging in disorderly conduct after entering the building. In March, McFadden acquitted a New Mexico elected official of disorderly conduct, but convicted him of entering a limited area of the Capitol. McFadden criticized prosecutors for handling the Capitol riots. He argued that the Justice Department was unfairly tougher on those accused of rioting in the Capitol compared to people arrested in protests against police violence and racial injustice following the assassination of George Floyd in 2020 by a Minneapolis police officer. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is scheduled to preside over a trial for Jesus Rivera, a man from Pensacola, Florida, who is charged with four felony counts. President Bill Clinton nominated Collar-Cotelli in court in 1997. At least four other people accused of riots in the Capitol are scheduled to stand trial this year. Jurors have unanimously convicted five people accused of rioting at the Capitol for all charges, a perfect record for prosecutors so far. More than 300 other defendants have pleaded guilty to rioting, mostly misdemeanors punishable by up to one year in prison. About 100 others have trial dates in 2022 or 2023. More than 800 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Jan. 6 attack.
