California man arrested in January. 6 U.S. Capitol riot flees to Belarus

California man arrested in January. 6, U.S. Capitol riot flees to Belarus. 

WASHINGTON – The California man accused of attacking police during January. 6 incident on the U.S. Capitol and using an iron barricade as a battering ram left from the United States, and is believed to have fled to Belarus Federal prosecutors announced on Friday.

Evan Neumann, 49, was indicted on Friday for 14 counts of criminality arising from the fatal Capitol assault by supporters of former President Donald Trump, expanding on the charges initially outlined in an indictment made by Neumann in March.

Neumann, from Mill Valley, California, close to San Francisco, was seen in video footage wearing gas masks while standing next to the police. 

The prosecutors announced he was near barricades put on the West Front of the Capitol Building.

According to the documents filed in the case, Neumann is later seen removing his gas mask and shouts at the police, “I’m willing to die, are you?” 

After which, he physically attacks numerous officers before rushing into them with a barricade that he uses as an assault weapon.

Neumann, who is not yet made a court appearance in the case, escaped away from the United States on Feb. 16 and “is currently believed to be in Belarus,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia stated in the statement.

According to a report published by the Daily Beast, Neumann was included last month in a Belarusian state-run television program titled “Goodbye, America,” telling the story of his travels through the ex-Soviet Republic, the capital city, Minsk.

On the show, he said that he was seeking asylum in Belarus because Belarus is the United States, in his view, is no longer an ideal place for peace and security, as The Daily Beast reported.

Neumann is among more than 220 suspects charged with assaulting or hindering police during an attack on the Capitol in January. 

6 attack at the Capitol that interrupted a joint session Congress meeting to officially recognize the November 2020 presidential election win by Democrat Joe Biden over Trump, the Republican incumbent.

Neumann is thought to be the only international fugitive charged to be involved in the Capitol incident.

The siege came in the wake of an event near the White House earlier that day. Trump encouraged supporters to march to the Capitol during a speech in which he made false claims of stealing the presidential election due to widespread fraud in the voting process.

Four people were killed in the riot that day. In addition, an Capitol police officer was killed the next day from injuries sustained while fighting for Congress. Police officers suffered many injuries in the ensuing scuffle, and four officers later took themselves to death.