A West Virginia state legislator recorded a video of him and other supporters of President Donald Trump invading the US Capitol on Wednesday, prompting resignations. In Republican Delegate Derrick Evans’ video, later deleted from his social media page, he is shown wearing a helmet and crying at the door to breach the building after Congress met for an expected vote to affirm Democratic Joe Biden’s victory.
“We’re in! Keep moving, baby!” he said at a crowded door amid Trump followers holding flags and complaining about pepper spray. Once inside, Evans can be seen on video circling the Capitol Rotunda, where historic paintings depict the founding of the republic, and shouted “without vandalism”.
Lawmakers from other states also traveled to the country’s capital to protest the results of the Electoral College on Wednesday. It is unclear whether any other elected officials forced him into the US Capitol. Sen. Doug Mastriano, from the state of Pennsylvania, helped organize a bus trip to protest in Washington, DC, and said he left the Capitol area after the outbreak of violence, which he called “unacceptable”. Still, a fellow Democrat asked for his resignation.
In West Virginia, Democratic party leaders said Evans should resign and “be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” About 10,000 people signed an online petition calling for him to be removed from office, a month after being elected for a first term.
State House of Representatives spokesman Roger Hanshaw said that Evans would need to “respond to his constituents and colleagues about his involvement in what happened today”.
“Although freedom of speech and peaceful protests are a central value of American society, breaking into government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption to one of our nation’s most fundamental political institutions is a crime that must be prosecuted to the fullest extent. of the law, “Hanshaw said, according to the CBS affiliate WOWK-TV.
A spokesman for the Chamber, Jared Hunt, told the Associated Press that Hanshaw is still “gathering as much information as possible about what happened and will assess all potential consequences once the situation is fully understood.” Hanshaw said in his statement that he had not yet spoken to Evans.
“Although freedom of speech and peaceful protests are a central value of American society, breaking into government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption to one of our nation’s most fundamental political institutions is a crime that must be prosecuted to the fullest extent. of the law, “Hanshaw said.
West Virginia Democratic Chamber minority leader Doug Skaff asked Hanshaw to suspend Evans’s access to the state chamber and start an investigation. “Deputy Derrick Evans not only participated in this violent and intentional breakdown of the government; he helped lead a group he organized to travel to Washington, DC, to cause this chaos,” he said in a statement.
Perry Bennett / West Virginia Legislature via AP
Evans was elected in November to represent Wayne County. On Tuesday night, he posted a photo on Facebook of a bus full of people without a mask, writing that two buses full of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio were going to DC
On Wednesday night, he said in a statement on social media that he was returning to West Virginia and “was just there as an independent member of the media to film the story”. The video shows him chanting Trump’s name before entering the Capitol building. He did not respond to an email asking for comment.
Evans was among thousands of Trump supporters, his anger over unfounded allegations of fraud in the presidential race prompting a crowd to occupy the Capitol building, interrupting the expected vote to certify Biden’s victory.
West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin called this an insurrection. “These bandits cannot and will not expel us,” he said in a statement.
Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito also regretted the protest. “These are the United States of America,” she said in a statement. “We don’t do that. We are not who we are.”
Alaska Republican representative David Eastman said he went to Washington, DC, to see Trump speak, but told the Anchorage Daily News that the attack on the building was “very terrible”.
Tennessee State Representative Terri Lynn Weaver said on Wednesday night that it was an “epic and historic day”. She told Tennessean that she was “in the middle of the confusion” but had not seen any violence.
Hundreds of people gathered in capitals across the country to oppose Biden’s victory in peaceful meetings. But New Mexico police evacuated the government building as a precaution and fighting broke out in Ohio and California. Some protesters carried weapons in some states.
In a video posted on Twitter during the occupation of the Capitol, Trump asked his “very special” supporters to return home, but he also repeated baseless claims that the election was stolen.