West Virginia Del. Derrick Evans, R-Wayne, charged federally for role in Trump mob insurrection
WASHINGTON (WV News) — West Virginia Delegate Derrick Evans, R-Wayne, has been charged with entering a restricting area and entering the U.S. Capitol, federal officials in the District of Columbia said Friday.
"We have just, I just received word that we have a signed complaint ... against a delegate who serves in the West Virginia Legislature," said Ken Cole, first assistant for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia.
Evans, who was elected to the House of Delegates in November and was sworn-in Dec. 14, posted multiple videos of himself to social media showing him entering the Capitol alongside fellow supporters of President Donald Trump.
“Derrick Evans is in the Capitol,” he can be heard saying multiple times in a since-deleted video.
Four people died as a result of what occurred Wednesday and more than a dozen others were injured.
A report published Thursday by The Daily Beast, which identified individuals who stormed the Capitol Complex as including prominent white nationalists, neo-Nazis and followers of the conspiracy theory QAnon, referred to Evans as an “anti-choice activist.”
The lawmaker posted a statement to his personal Facebook page Wednesday afternoon, claiming to have been in Washington “simply as an independent member of the media to film history.”
Evans' actions have met with strong bipartisan rebukes from throughout West Virginia political circles.
The complaint against Evans was referenced amid a news conference in which authorities announced 15 federal cases had been filed in the Trump mob insurrection Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
In addition to Evans, announced another suspect was charged after he was found afterward with 11 Molotov cocktails, some filled with homemade napalm; two handguns; and an M-4 assault rifle.
And, another individual, Richard Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, was among those charged; he's accused in connection with entering the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where he was photographed at her desk.
The government is continuing to investigate and is seeking tips at 1-800-CALLFBI or fbi.gov/uscapitol, according to FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the District of Columbia Field Office Steven M. D'Antuono.
"We will continue to investigate all allegations of criminal activity and work with our partners at DOJ, and DC US Attorney's Office and bring charges and prosecute those responsible for the horrific activity that happened here in our nation's capitol. I want to stress this: Just because you left the D.C. region, [you can expect] a knock on the door if you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol," D'Antuono said. "Bottom line on this: The FBI is not sparing any resources in this investigation."
A lot of stress because because folks, knock on the door. You were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol.
"This investigation has the highest priority of the Department of Justice. We literally have hundreds of prosecutors and agents, working from three command centers, in what is really a 24/seven operation," Cole said.
"It is active, it is fluid and evolving. So we're just really giving you the information that we have available at this," Cole said.
On the death of the U.S. Capitol police officer Brian D. Sicknick, Cole said "felony murder's always in play in something like this. But until we get all of the facts," they're "not in a position to comment on it."
Officials said they had no indication of a conspiracy to frame Trump supporters for the violence at the Capitol.
Cole also was asked about the "possibility that the president or the people who were on the stage with him at that rally could face potential charges related to inciting violence, and also some early insurrection charges against people who were inside the Capitol Building."
Cole replied: "Obviously, we don't expect any charges of that nature."
West Virginia lawmaker posts — then deletes — video of himself storming Capitol
A newly elected West Virginia lawmaker posted video of himself among the crowd that stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday — prompting calls for his resignation.
Republican Delegate Derrick Evans has since deleted the video showing him and a throng of Trump supporters breaching the building in protest of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“We’re in, baby!” he says in the clip, copies of which are still circulating on Twitter.
Evans can also be seen inside milling about the Capitol Rotunda in a helmet, yelling, “No vandalizing.”
The first-time officeholder was elected in November to represent Wayne County.
In a Facebook post, he called himself “an independent member of the media to film history” while on a bus traveling home to West Virginia, West Virginia Metro News said.
“I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactions with law enforcement nor did I participate in any destruction that may have occurred,” Evans added.
Democratic leaders in West Virginia have already called on Evans to resign and “be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.” About 10,000 people have signed an online petition calling for his removal from office.
Roger Hanshaw, the speaker of the state House of Delegates, said Evans will need to “answer to his constituents and colleagues regarding his involvement in what has occurred today.”
Hanshaw suggested Evans could be criminally charged.
“While free speech and peaceful protests are a core value of American society, storming government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption of one of our nation’s most fundamental political institutions is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said in a statement.
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