Speaker Hanshaw issues statement
Staff, wire reports
A West Virginia lawmaker recorded video of himself and fellow supporters of President Donald Trump storming the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, triggering calls for his resignation.
In the video by Republican Del. Derrick Evans, later deleted from his social media page, he is shown wearing a helmet and clamoring at the door to breach in after Congress met for an expected vote to affirm Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
“We’re in! Keep it moving, baby!” he said in a packed doorway amid Trump followers holding flags and complaining of being pepper-sprayed. Once inside, Evans could be seen on video milling around the Capitol Rotunda, where historical paintings depict the republic’s founding, and yelled “no vandalizing.”
More than 3,000 people have signed an online petition calling for him to be removed from office.
Evans stirred social media buzz with posts he made during the Trump rally — Evans was outside the Capitol, not at the rally — and the subsequent violent storming of the Capitol. As part of the rally post, he said, “It’s getting rowdy, man. People are ready to storm the building.”
And in a later post, from inside, he said, “We’re in! We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
He later posted saying he was on a bus back home and said he didn’t participate in any destruction or have any negative interactions with law enforcement; he was just there “as an indpendent member of the media to film history.”
He made repeated references to the “fake media” in his first video.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw issued a statement in response to Evans’ actions.
“Like most Americans, I am shocked, saddened, angered and disturbed by the images coming out of our nation’s Capitol today,” Hanshaw said. “The peaceful transfer of power is a bedrock principle of our republic, and is what has held the United States up as that shining city on a hill for nearly 250 years.
“I have not spoken to Delegate Evans about today’s events, I don’t know the specifics of his involvement, I have only seen what has been posted on social media so far, and I’m sure more details may come out soon. He will need to answer to his constituents and colleagues regarding his involvement in what has occurred today.
“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.
“What occurred today is unpatriotic, un-American and I condemn it in the strongest terms possible,” Hanshaw concluded.
Tweet @DominionPostWV
