Lawmaker charged after entering Capitol with rioters
Dozens arrested on unlawful entry counts, curfew violations
CHARLESTON, W. VA.— A West Virginia state lawmaker has been charged with entering a restricted area of the U. S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters.
Ken Kohl, a top deputy federal prosecutor in Washington, announced the charge against Republican state delegate Derrick Evans on a call in which he presented dozens of new charges against members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
Federal law enforcement officials have charged at least 13 people, the Justice Department said Friday, several on charges of unlawful entry. Washington police have also arrested dozens, mostly on charges of unlawful entry and curfew violations. The U. S. Capitol Police announced the arrests of 14 other people on Thursday.
The authorities found 11 Molotov cocktails and a semi- automatic rifle in the truck of a 70year- old man from Alabama who was also arrested, according to prosecutors. He also had two handguns.
“We are far from done,” added Steven M. D’Antuono, who runs the FBI’s Washington field office.
Evans’ lawyer, John Bryan, said he hadn’t seen the complaint against Evans and couldn’t comment.
“He’s a fine man. And thank you, Mr. Trump, for inviting a riot at the White House,” a woman identifying herself as Evans’ grandmother told TV reporters as her grandson was being taken into custody.
Legislators from at least seven other states travelled to Washington, D. C., to back Trump and demonstrate against the counting of electoral votes confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.
It’s unknown if any other elected officials joined the attack on the Capitol.
A growing number of Republicans and Democrats said they want to expel Evans from the legislature if he does not resign. Bryan said Thursday the delegate did not commit a crime and doesn’t plan to resign.
In his now- deleted video, widely shared online, Evans is clamouring inside a jampacked Capitol building doorway, trying with others to push his way inside.
He hollers along with other Trump loyalists and fist- bumps a law enforcement officer who let them in.
Evans’ lawyer has said he was acting as an amateur journalist recording the day’s events and that he was not involved in violence.
After pushing into the building, video shows Evans milling around the Capitol Rotunda, where historic paintings depict the republic’s founding, and imploring others to not vandalize artwork and busts. Some of the pieces were later vandalized.
“Our house!” Evans yells inside Capitol halls. “I don’t know where we’re going. I’m following the crowd.”