Former Santa Rosa resident Evan Neumann, fugitive of charges from the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C., speaks out from Belarus

Press Democrat ^ | 28 Jan 2024 | Andrew Graham

[rey]

Evan Neumann, charged with felonies for assaulting police officers during the riot, spoke to a Press Democrat reporter by phone from Belarus. He has been living in that country, an ally of Russia, since August 2021, when he fled across the border from Ukraine. Belarus granted him political asylum in early 2022

While his convictions about the 2020 election haven’t changed much, Evan Neumann says that if he could do it again he would not have traveled to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021, to protest Congress’ ratification of the vote.

Neumann still questions whether the election was fairly tabulated, despite the lack of any official or legal finding to the contrary. And, echoing conspiracies that have proliferated on the right, he suggests the crowd at the U.S. Capitol during the ensuing riot could have been salted with provocateurs who urged on the violence. Or, that the day was a “honey pot” operation, where law enforcement allowed crimes to be committed so they could punish the perpetrators later.

Three years later, Neumann is isolated from his family, wanted by the FBI and trying to build a new life in Eastern Europe. He misses his children, two young teenagers still in California, and he is unsure how to bring them over for a visit at this point.

“If I had some kind of a crystal ball to see the future, then I wouldn't have gone,” Neumann said. “But I never predicted this.”

Neumann spoke to a Press Democrat reporter by phone from Belarus. He has been living in that country, an ally of Russia, since August 2021, when he fled across the border from Ukraine. Belarus granted him political asylum, with media fanfare, in early 2022.

Neumann, 51, is charged with 14 crimes including “assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.” According to his indictment, Neumann assaulted four police officers over the course of the day with both his fists and by picking up a metal barricade and ramming it into a line of police.

Cont. below

[Big Red Badger]

50 yrs old and a Million bank——
Tough call.