A former West Virginia lawmaker who livestreamed himself on Facebook storming the U.S. Capitol and cheering on what he described as a “revolution” was sentenced Wednesday to 3 months in prison.
Derrick Evans, 37, who pleaded responsible to a felony civil dysfunction cost, instructed the decide that he regrets his actions daily and is a “good person who unfortunately was caught up in a moment.”
“I will forever bear the reminder that I made a crucial mistake. I’ve let down myself, I’ve let down my community and most importantly I’ve let down my family,” Evans instructed the decide.
The Republican from Prichard, West Virginia, was sworn in as a member of the state’s House of Delegates simply weeks earlier than the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that halted the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and left greater than 100 law enforcement officials injured. Evans was arrested two days after the riot and promptly resigned a month earlier than the begin of the legislative session, so he by no means served a day in the legislature.
Prosecutors had sought the three months behind bars, describing Evans as a pacesetter in the riot who escalated the chaos at the Capitol by enthusiastically egging on the rioters round him.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth instructed Evans time behind bars was essential to mirror the seriousness of Evans’ actions and assist forestall one thing like the riot from ever taking place once more.
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“I don’t want another riot the next election. I don’t want this to happen again, so I’m going to do what I can,” the decide added.
In the days main as much as the riot, Evans instructed his 30,000 Facebook followers to “Fight For Trump” in the nation’s capital, based on court docket paperwork. On the day of the riot, he skipped then- President Donald Trump’s speech and went straight to the Capitol, the place he used his cellphone to file the melee for greater than an hour, prosecutors mentioned.
In a mobile phone video that was broadly shared on-line, Evans gleefully narrated the riot for his Facebook followers, cheered on the crowd and fist bumped rioters as he and the remainder of the mob swarmed the Capitol and jammed inside.
“Guys, oh my gosh, I can’t even explain what is happening right now, how amazing this is to see in person. I am in awe. The revolution has started. The revolution has started!” he mentioned, based on court docket paperwork.
After pushing inside the Capitol, he shouted: “We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
About quarter-hour after leaving the constructing, he texted a buddy to ask if he ought to delete the video “so there’s no evidence” of his actions, court docket information present.
“Even while he was filming the livestream he knew what was happening around him was not lawful,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Fifield instructed the decide, noting that at one level Evans speculated that Trump would “pardon anybody who gets arrested” for going in the Capitol.
In a Facebook assertion after the riot, Evans mentioned he recorded the occasions “as an independent member of the media to film history.” He mentioned he didn’t have destructive interactions with legislation enforcement or interact in property destruction.
Evans’ lawyer urged the decide for probation, noting that the former lawmaker did not interact in any violence or destruction and was heard on the video urging others not to take action. Attorney Paul Taylor argued in court docket paperwork the video suggests “a certain naivete” and “lack of experience, wisdom or judgement rather than primarily criminal intent.”
Evans, a former trainer and soccer coach, is amongst greater than 300 folks who have pleaded responsible in connection to the riot. Defendants have admitted to crimes starting from misdemeanors to felony seditious conspiracy.
Sentences have ranged from probation for these who admitted to petty offenses to greater than 5 years in prison for a person who attacked law enforcement officials working to carry again the indignant mob.
Last week, the founding father of the “Cowboys for Trump” organization and commissioner of Otero County, New Mexico, Couy Griffin, was sentenced Friday to 14 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, 60 hours of community service and a year of supervised release on Friday after being convicted of entering restricted U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, a group of Proud Boys accused of seditious conspiracy on Wednesday successfully petitioned a judge to delay their trial until at least the end of the year. The move comes less than two weeks after their alleged leadership role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol took center stage in the first House Select Committee public hearing on the riot.
Judge Timothy Kelly said he “reluctantly” agreed to maneuver the trial begin date to December, pushing again its previously-scheduled begin date of Aug. 8 .
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