A West Virginia legislator who he filmed himself and supporters of President Donald Trump breaking into the U.S. Capitol faces bipartisan petitions for his resignation as federal prosecutors intensify their search for violent perpetrators. But the country’s state attorney, Derrick Evans, told CBS affiliate WVNS-TV he would not step down and “did not commit any criminal act that day.”
Evans was one of at least seven state lawmakers who traveled to Washington, DC, for demonstrations rooted in the baseless conspiracy theory that Democrat Joe Biden stole in the presidential election. With a helmet on, Evans finally joined a crowd shouting as he entered the Capitol building and relayed himself walking happily.
“We’re in! Keep moving, girl!” he said in a crowded doorway amid Trump supporters who had flags and complained of pepper spray. Once inside, Evans could be seen in a video made around the Capitol Roundabout, where historical paintings represent the foundation of the republic and shouted “no vandalism.”
Republican Speaker of the West Virginia House of Representatives Roger Hanshaw said Wednesday night that Evans will have to “answer to his constituents and colleagues” for his actions. Democratic leadership called for his prosecution. Some 40,000 people signed a petition to change.org to demand Evans ’withdrawal.
“He did not commit any criminal act that day,” Bryan said in a statement Thursday at the end.
The two U.S. attorneys in West Virginia said in a statement that they are in contact with their counterparts in other states and “willing to enforce the rule of law and the laws of that United States.”
Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislature through AP
Evans, a conservative vocal activist with more than 30,000 followers on Facebook, has not publicly posted on social media since he issued a statement Wednesday that attended the events as an “independent member of the media in film history.” He made his Twitter account private on Wednesday afternoon and did not answer questions via email.
“At no time did Mr. Evans stand in the crowd on the west side of the building (Capitol), nor anywhere else on the Capitol grounds, where violence and destruction of property occurred or had occurred,” he said. dir Bryan.
In his now-deleted video, widely shared online, Evans cries inside a hatch in the Capitol building, which he is trying to try with other people to get inside. He congratulates himself along with other Trump loyalists and thanks a police officer for letting them in.
Walking through the great roundabout of the Capitol, where the historical paintings represent the foundation of the republic, Evans implores others not to vandalize the works of art and busts, some of which would in fact be vandalized.
“Our house!” Evans calls to the Capitol halls. “I don’t know where we’re going. I’m following the crowd.”
Like several other political winners for the first time in the West Virginia November election, Evans swept a Democratic rival to win his seat representing Wayne County. The Republican Party’s high turnout credited to Mr. Trump elevated Republicans with a negative electoral vote in the state and gave the party a majority surface.
State GOP President Melody Potter declined to answer questions about Evans.