Journalist Who Filmed Capitol Officer Leading Rioters Away from Senate Says Hero Cop Saved His Life

Journalist Igor Bobic wants to say thank you to the U.S. Capitol police officer who he believes saved his life during last Wednesday's violent insurrection that led to the deaths of five people.

"He's a hero," says Bobic, 33-year-old politics reporter for HuffPost. Bobic filmed harrowing footage showing the officer being backed into the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters who had breached the building. In the footage, the officer steers the angry mob away from the Senate chamber.

The rioters, incited by repeated lies about the presidential election by Trump and his political allies, were waiving Confederate and Nazi flags and screaming, "Traitors! This is our America. We want justice," Bobic tells PEOPLE.

Bobic filmed as the officer shouted into his radio, "I need back up! I need back up, there's been a breach."

"I could tell that he was alarmed, panicked, as much as I was," Bobic says. "There was a moment where he looked at me and I looked at him. I tried to stay out of his way."

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On the second floor, the officer looked over his shoulder to the entrance of the Senate chamber. "It looks like he's checking whether the doors have been secured," Bobic says.

The officer blocked the rioters from heading toward the door — even pushing the man at the head of the pack.

"He did a really good job of leading them away," Bobic says.

Bobic later learned that at the time he was filming, Senators were all still in the chamber and the door wasn't sealed.

"We really, really had a close call," Bobic says. "A possible nightmare."

Bobic has been trying to get in touch with the officer, just to say thank you.

"In addition to saving the lives of all these senators and preventing a catastrophic situation, he saved my life," he says. "I have no idea what I would have done if I ran into that mob and he wasn't there."

A fellow officer who wanted to remain anonymous says the officer likely saved lives and a potential hostage situation that day.

"He did exactly what he was trying to do. He diverted that crowd from going on the Senate floor," the colleague says. "He actually, in my opinion, he prevented a possible hostage situation because it was clear a lot of these people had zip ties. What a hero. He might've saved lives by doing what he did."

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