A former West Virginia state legislator pleaded guilty on Friday for his role in the riot at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Derrick Evans was a Republican member of the House of Delegates but never served a day, resigning after his arrest in January 2021, a month before the start of the legislative session.
Evans pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge, punishable by up to five years in prison. Sentencing was set for June 22.
He live-streamed himself at the Capitol while wearing a helmet. In a since-deleted mobile phone video that was widely shared online, Evans was shown clamouring in a packed doorway with other supporters of former president Donald Trump before joyfully strolling inside.
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An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of former president Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, January 6, 2021. Reuters -
A supporter of US President Donald J. Trump sits on the desk of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, after supporters of US President Donald J. Trump breached the US Capitol security in Washington. EPA -
Police detain a person as supporters of US President Donald Trump protest outside the US Capitol. AFP -
Protesters enter the US Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester holds a Trump flag inside the US Capitol Building near the Senate Chamber. AFP -
US Capitol police officers point their guns at a door that was vandalized in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Members of congress run for cover as protesters try to enter the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers barricade themselves after Trump supporters stormed inside the US Capitol. AFP -
Congress staffers hold up their hands while Capitol Police Swat teams check everyone in the room as they secure the floor of Trump supporters. AFP -
US Capitol Police stand detain protesters outside of the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump sits at a desk after invading the Capitol Building. AFP -
A protester sits in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Pro-Trump protesters tear down a barricade as they clash with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress. Reuters -
Police hold back supporters of US President Donald Trump as they gather outside the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump enter the US Capitol's Rotunda. AFP -
A protester is seen hanging from the balcony in the Senate Chamber. AFP -
Riot police prepare to move demonstrators away from the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces, as they storm the US Capitol. AFP -
A supporter of US President Donald Trump wears a gas mask as he protests after storming the US Capitol. AFP -
Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest inside the US Capitol. AFP -
US President Donald Trump is seen on TV from a video message released on Twitter addressing rioters at the US Capitol, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. AFP -
Supporters of US President Donald Trump protest in the US Capitol Rotunda. AFP -
Paramedics perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a patient. AFP -
A wounded protester is carried on barricade as demonstrators breach the US Capital building grounds. Bloomberg -
US Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the 2020 Electoral College results after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol earlier in the day on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. EPA -
Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and personal belongings strewn across the floor of the Rotunda in the early morning hours of the morning, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington. AP
“We’re in! We’re in!” Evans yelled. “Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
In the days prior, Evans told his 30,000 Facebook followers to “Fight For Trump” in the nation’s capital, a criminal complaint said.
Also pleading guilty on Friday was former Rocky Mount, Virginia, police officer Jacob Fracker.
Fracker, who was fired by the town after his arrest, has agreed to co-operate with federal prosecutors, his lawyer said. A date for his sentencing wasn’t immediately set.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, the joint session of Congress that convened on January 6 to certify President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The felony charge is punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Thomas Robertson, another former police officer and Fracker's co-defendant who also pleaded guilty, has a trial scheduled to start on April 4. The town of Rocky Mount also fired Robertson after the Capitol siege.
Fracker and Robertson were off duty when they drove with a neighbour to Washington on the morning of January 6. The indictment says Robertson brought three gas masks for them to use.
After listening to speeches near the Washington Monument, Fracker, Robertson and the neighbour identified only as “Person A” walked towards the Capitol, donned the gas masks and joined the growing mob, the indictment said.
Robertson was allegedly carrying a large wooden stick and used it to impede Metropolitan Police Department officers who arrived to help Capitol police officers hold off the mob.
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Donald Trump, the president at the time, speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP -
A mob loyal to Mr Trump tries to break through a police barrier at the Capitol. AP -
The mob waves pro-Trump flags in front of the Capitol building. AP -
Riot police push back a crowd of rioters at the Capitol building. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol building. AFP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump try to open a door of the US Capitol building as they riot in Washington. AP -
US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol. AP -
Police and rioters confront each other in the Rotunda of the Capitol. US Capitol Police via AP -
Smoke fills the hallway outside the Senate chamber of the Capitol. AP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump breach the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, centre, confront US Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol. AP -
Newly installed razor wire tops the fence surrounding the US Capitol following the January 6 riot. Reuters -
Security agents and members of Congress barricade the door to the House chamber as the violent mob breaches the Capitol. AP -
Rioter Jacob Chansley holds a sign referencing QAnon as supporters of Mr Trump gather to protest the early results of the 2020 presidential election. Reuters
The two former officers posed for a photograph inside the Capitol during the attack and later posted about the riot on social media. Robertson was photographed making an obscene gesture in front of a statue of John Stark in the Capitol’s crypt, prosecutors said.
Fracker and Robertson had sworn to uphold the law, even in “the face of volatile and challenging circumstances”, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
“They broke this public trust when they participated in the riot at the US Capitol,” they added.
Before the riot, Robertson posted on Facebook about his belief that the 2020 presidential election was illegitimate and referenced an “open armed rebellion” and “insurgency”, the indictment said.
“A legitimate republic stands on four boxes. The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box and then the cartridge box. We just moved to step three. Step four will not be pretty,” he wrote on November 7, 2021.
Robertson has been jailed since US District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in July that he violated terms of his pretrial release by possessing firearms. The judge rejected Robertson’s suggestion that 34 guns he ordered before June 29, when FBI agents searched his home, are simply Second World War collectables.
More than 760 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 230 people have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanours, and at least 127 of them have been sentenced. About 100 others have trial dates.
