US Capitol rioter ‘willing to die’ seeks asylum in Belarus

Ivan Neumann fled America on the pretext of a business trip and traveled through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Poland and Ukraine.

An American facing criminal charges for participating in the January 6 riots at the United States Capitol is seeking asylum in Belarus, the country’s state TV reported on Monday – a sign of escalating tensions between the troubled former Soviet state and the US. .

According to US prosecutors, 48-year-old Evan Newman of California taunted and shouted at US Capitol police on January 6 before putting a gas mask on his face and threatening an officer that police would be “overrun” by the mob.

But in an interview with state TV channel Belarus 1, Neumann dismissed the allegations, including assault, obstruction and other crimes, claiming he was being politically persecuted.

“I don’t think I’ve committed any sort of crime,” Newman said according to Belarus 1 voiceover of his interview remarks. “One of the allegations was very objectionable; It is alleged that I killed a police officer. It has no basis.”

Hundreds of supporters of former President Donald Trump raided The US Capitol on January 6 bid to force Congress to adjourn proceedings to testify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. The incident has become a controversial dividing line between Republicans and Democrats in American politics.

The Democrat-led US House of Representatives has a special committee investigating Trump and his Republican allies had an alleged role in inciting mobs that used chemical sprays, tasers and improvised weapons. Police fired tear gas shells and responded with riot squads. More than 650 persons in their . has been charged for action 6, according to the FBI which issued a warrant for Newman’s arrest in March.

The Belarus 1 channel on Sunday promoted excerpts from its interview with Neumann and announced that it would broadcast the full version on Wednesday. Newman spoke English but was dubbed into Russian for broadcast, The Associated Press reported.

The FBI alleged that Newman stood in front of a police barricade wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat as a crowd of pro-Trump rioters tried to coerce past officers, according to court papers reviewed by Al Jazeera.

“I’m ready to die, right?” Prosecutors quoted Newman as telling police.

Supporters of President Donald Trump break down police barriers and occupy the US Capitol on January 6. More than 650 people have been arrested and charged by the FBI. [File: Julio Cortez/AP Photo]

Washington Metropolitan Police body camera video shows Newman and others pushing a metal fence into a line of officers who were trying to push back the crowd, before punching two officers with their fists Kills and then hits them with barricades.

Newman was identified by investigators after someone who they said was a family friend called Newman’s name and an FBI tip line with his hometown of Mill Valley, California. He was charged with a US federal criminal complaint that included detailed body camera images of Newman, who clashed with police and mobile phone data that showed he was inside the Capitol building.

Newman told Belarus 1 that his photo had been added to the FBI’s most wanted list, after which he left the country on the pretext of a business trip. Neumann, who owns a handbag manufacturing business, traveled to Italy in March, and then traveled through Switzerland, Germany and Poland. When he arrived in Ukraine, he spent several months there.

He said he decided to illegally enter neighboring Belarus after seeing surveillance by Ukrainian security forces. “It’s awful. It’s political persecution,” Newman told the TV channel.

Belarusian border guards detained the American when he tried to cross into Belarus and requested asylum in mid-August. Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

The US Embassy in Belarus declined the AP’s request for comment. A US Justice Department official said the DOJ would not comment “on the existence or non-existence of apprehension requests to foreign governments.”

Belarus 1 television anchors described Newman as “an ordinary American whose store was burned down by members of the Black Lives Matter movement demanding justice, asking uncomfortable questions, but almost everything else.” Lost and being persecuted by the US government”.

In a brief preface to the interview, the Belarus 1 reporter also stated that “something” caused Newman to “escape from the land of fairy-tale freedom and opportunity” – a clear inclination towards the US, which has waged a human war against Belarus. Many restrictions have been imposed on Violent action on rights violations and dissent.

Belarus was shaken for months Protest The opposition and the West condemned it as a sham after election officials gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in the August 2020 presidential election.

Lukashenko’s government opened violent action On the protesters, more than 35,000 people were arrested and thousands of them thrashed badly. The action sparked widespread international outrage.