Former GOP state lawmaker pleads guilty in Capitol riot

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

A former West Virginia state lawmaker who resigned after participating in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol pleaded guilty on Friday to a felony related to the deadly riot.

Derrick Evans had just been elected as a state delegate when he livestreamed himself pushing inside the US Capitol, screaming his own name, according to prosecutors.

“We’re in, we’re in!” Evans shouted in the livestream, according to his plea agreement. “Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”

Prosecutors also say Evans encouraged other people to swarm the building, at one point saying, “If (Vice President Mike) Pence betrays us, you better get your mind right because we’re storming that building.”

The felony, a civil disorder charge, could result in up to five years in prison, though it is unlikely Evans will be given the statutory maximum when he is sentenced in June. Evans has also agreed to pay $2,000 in restitution for damage done to the Capitol building by the mob.

Evans was arrested two days after the riot, and later resigned his seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates.

“I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians,” he said in a statement at the time.

Evans isn’t the only politician charged in connection to January 6. Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico and founder of Cowboys for Trump, is set to go to trial in Washington, DC, next week. He was charged with two misdemeanors for illegally entering Capitol grounds, but maintains his innocence.

More than 225 people have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the insurrection.

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