Derrick Evans was accused of illegal entry, officials said.
A West Virginia state lawmaker who filmed himself inside the US Capitol during Wednesday’s violent siege was arrested on Friday, officials announced.
Republican Derrick Evans, a newly elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, was accused of illegal entry, DCUS prosecutors said during a press conference with reporters.
The federal criminal complaint listed two charges: intentionally entering or staying in a restricted building and violent entry and disorderly conduct at Capitol Grounds.
Evans was released on bail after appearing before a federal judge in Huntington, West Virginia, court records show.
Evans broadcast a live video on his Facebook page of him and other protesters inside the Capitol after a pro-Trump crowd forced his entry. Members of Congress were in the process of certifying the results of the November presidential election.
In the deleted video, Evans can be heard shouting to the crowd: “We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is on Capitol Hill!”
Evans was reportedly “joining and encouraging a crowd that illegally entered the United States Capitol,” according to the criminal complaint, which included an analysis of the video for approximately five minutes.
His lawyer, John Bryan, said Evans “did nothing wrong” and characterized his client as an “independent activist and journalist” in a statement released on Thursday.
“He was exercising his First Amendment rights to protest peacefully and film a historic and dynamic event,” said Bryan. “He was not involved in any violence, any turmoil, no destruction of property and no illegal behavior.”
Bryan said Evans was “totally separated from the tragic events that occurred that day” and that the legislator also felt that the crowd was “being allowed by law enforcement on Capitol Hill”.
Approximately 40 people were arrested and charged at the DC Superior Court in connection with the riot, officials said on Friday. The crimes included illegal entry, curfew violations and firearm-related crimes, officials said.
In addition, 13 people were charged with federal crimes, including Richard Barnett, who allegedly broke into the office of Mayor Nancy Pelosi, officials said.
Five people who were in the protests died, including a Capitol police officer.
In the wake of the violent attack on the Capitol, Doug Skaff, the minority leader of the delegates of the West Virginia House of Delegates, asked Evans not to sit as a member on January 13.
On a Letter to Mayor Roger Hanshaw, Skaff claimed that Evans “committed several illegal acts, clearly honored through his own Facebook broadcast, in an attempt to stop this constitutionally mandatory process.”
“His actions unequivocally disqualify him from holding public office in this state and make him ineligible to be a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates,” wrote Skaff.
West Virginia’s elected senator Eric Nelson also called for Evans to resign.
Evans will not resign, his lawyer said on Thursday.
“He firmly defends every American’s right to be found innocent until proven guilty,” said Bryan. “He did not commit any criminal act that day. On the contrary, he was exercising his constitutionally protected rights to engage in peaceful protests and to film the events that were taking place.”
In a statement released on Wednesday, Hanshaw said he saw what was posted on social media and that Evans “will need to respond to his constituents and colleagues about his involvement in what happened.”
Meg Cunningham and Alex Mallin of ABC News contributed to this report.