Californian who faces jail for participating in the storming of the Capitol seeks asylum in Belarus

A California resident who allegedly participated in the storming of the Capitol on January 6 is seeking asylum in Belarus, reports buzzfeednews.

Photo: Shutterstock

On January 6, tens of thousands of Trump supporters gathered outside Capitol Hill for a rally where the president spoke to them. They later broke through police cordons and broke into the Capitol, where congressmen were sitting. New Newspaper. The protesters smashed glass in the Capitol, took out property and occupied the offices of congressmen, after which the authorities brought the National Guard from neighboring states and the FBI special forces into Washington, and within several hours they cleaned the building. The mayor of Washington has imposed a curfew in the city. The riots killed five people, including a police officer.

Long and difficult journey to Belarus

Evan Newman, 48, was among the Capitol stormtroopers. As a result, the man was charged in March with six crimes related to the assault, including two serious crimes for assaulting a police officer and participating in civil unrest. He was on the FBI's Wanted List.

Newman is now in Belarus. According to him, he “crossed snake-infested swamps and forests on his way to Belarus from Ukraine.” On August 15, an American was detained at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border as an illegal immigrant.

Newman said in a news segment called "Goodbye America!" that he went to great lengths to avoid capture by U.S. law enforcement, creating a "Catch Me If You Can"-style escape.

He said that in March he flew to the EU (he did not specify the country) under the pretext of a business trip, and then went to Switzerland by train. From there the man went to Germany and then to Poland. Then he moved to the territory of Ukraine and settled in the center of Zhitomir (the regional center in Ukraine). According to him, he rented an apartment there and lived for four months, but then decided to flee from this country.

Newman said he left Ukraine after noticing that he was being followed by agents of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). He colorfully described how in August, under cover of night, he illegally crossed the border of Belarus on foot, making his way through a swampy forest, dodging wild boars and snakes.

It looks like the escape was not very spontaneous. Before leaving, Newman sold his two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in Mill Valley, California for $ 1,3 million. The deal was closed in April.

The home buyer, upon learning of Newman's flight, said: "Last we heard, he was in Ukraine. Newman lived in this house for seven years. I suspect that the lawsuit may explain the quick sale of the house - the deal was completed in two and a half weeks."

Overlooked in America

The United States is famous for its ubiquitous intelligence agencies. What went wrong with Newman?

At the end of March, federal prosecutors filed against Newman formal charges, but not publicly, even the accused himself did not know about it. The Justice Department did this frequently in Capitol riot cases. The charges were not publicized until the accused was arrested. This was done out of fears that the suspects would try to destroy the evidence and endanger the police.

According to official documents, FBI agents interviewed Newman at San Francisco International Airport on February 16, agents wanted to know what he was doing in Washington on January 6. Newman allegedly confirmed that he was in Washington that day and “interacted” with law enforcement, but declined to provide details.

He was not taken into custody that day and the "quiet" investigation continued. However, according to Newman himself, he has “many friends in the government” who informed him that he was under investigation and that he could face imminent arrest. The man consulted with a lawyer and he suggested that he “wait out the storm” in Europe and see what happens next.

In early summer, the prosecutor's office asked the judge to open the case and make the charges public, explaining that Newman is likely already aware of what is happening and that making the charges public would at least give the authorities more opportunities to try to track him down.

“The Government has reason to believe that Mr. Newman already knows that he is under investigation in connection with the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and is actively attempting to evade arrest,” prosecutors wrote.

But they were late, by that time the American had already lived in Zhitomir.

Not guilty

During an interview on November 7, Newman told the Belarus 1 news channel that the allegations against him were baseless. He called them "baseless" and said they amounted to "political persecution."

“I didn’t dare to ask for asylum until the SBU started persecuting me in Ukraine. This is terrible. This is political persecution ... Not a criminal investigation, but political persecution. And this is a level that I can’t do anything, ”Newman said.

“I have been charged in 6 cases and I think they are all felonies. A felony is a very serious charge. It means that you have harmed someone. I don't think I committed any crime, one of the charges was very unfortunate. It is alleged that I hit a police officer. There is no basis for this,” Newman said.

However, photographs from the criminal case against Newman show him punching a police officer, identified in documents simply as “JM,” an allegation the man denies.

Why Belarus

Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, and tensions between the countries have escalated significantly since Washington and much of the world considered the presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020 to be rigged.

Alexander Lukashenko, known as Europe's last dictator, has ruled the country with an iron fist for over two decades. He claims to have won this election, although there is evidence that he probably lost to challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and manipulated the results to ensure his victory.

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Given this whole situation and the tension between Washington and Minsk, Newman can be sure that Belarus will not hand him over to America. In the EU countries and in Ukraine, this risk still persisted.

Not a day without adventure

In California, Newman left behind a wife and two children, as well as a bag-making business. And the man has a lot of interesting experience behind him.

US authorities, referring to Newman's LinkedIn page, said that he participated in the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine. This uprising canceled a rigged presidential election in favor of Viktor Yanukovych and brought Viktor Yushchenko to power. Yanukovych later won what international observers considered free and fair in 2010, but he was overthrown by the Euromaidan revolution in 2014.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

And in early 2018, Newman and his brother Mark entered the protected gated property. 7news.

“I thought the area was open,” Newman said at the time. “They never ordered us to leave.”

Both Evan and Mark Newman then pleaded guilty, paid fines and performed community service.

Newman's brother, Mark, said he was unaware of his brother's actions on January 6 and his current whereabouts.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• January 6 under the Capitol building crowded with numerous supporters President of the United States Donald Trump, protesting against the election results. The situation quickly escalated into chaos.
• Congress officially confirmed Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. But the fulfillment of this age-old tradition was accompanied by large-scale riots near the Capitol.
• The storming of the Capitol on January 6 is considered an act of domestic terrorismThe US Congress is still trying to find a foreign trace in it.
• The storming of the Capitol on January 6 was planned in advance: Extreme right-wing forums discussed ways to storm the building to prevent Joe Biden's election certification.
• US President Donald Trump returned to Twitter after a 12-hour ban on his account and posted a video in which harshly condemned the people who broke into the Capitol, and for the first time admitted his defeat in the elections.

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