CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia state legislator has been accused of entering a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after having broadcast himself running to the building with a crowd of pro-Trump supporters, the Justice Department announced on Friday.
Ken Kohl, a senior deputy federal prosecutor in Washington, announced the charge against Republican state Del. Derrick Evans in a call in which he filed dozens of new charges against members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.
His lawyer, John Bryan, said he did not see the complaint against Evans and could not comment. He did not say whether Evans had been taken into custody, but the television station WSAZ posted a video on Twitter showing FBI agents escorting the legislator in handcuffs from a house.
Lawmakers from at least seven other states traveled to Washington, DC, to support President Donald Trump and speak out against counting electoral votes, confirming Democratic Joe Biden’s victory. It is not known whether any other elected officials joined the attack on the Capitol.
A growing number of Republicans and Democrats have said they want to expel Evans from the legislature if he does not resign. Bryan said on Thursday night that the deputy did not commit any crime and does not plan to resign.
In his now-deleted, widely shared video online, Evans is clamoring inside the door of a Capitol building, trying with others to make his way inside. He yells along with other Trump supporters and punches a policeman who let them in.
“Our home!” Evans screams into the Capitol corridors. “I don’t know where we’re going. I’m following the crowd. “
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Associated Press journalist Michael Balsamo in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.