(CNN)According to Belarusian state television BelTA, a suspected US Capitol insurgent who fled the United States has been granted refugee status in Belarus.
Californian Evan Neumann went to Europe after being charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Neumann initially settled in Ukraine, he said in an interview in November, but claims he traveled to Belarus on foot after noticing that Ukrainian authorities were following him.
“Today I have mixed feelings,” Neumann told BelTA on Tuesday. “I’m glad Belarus took care of me. I am upset that I find myself in a situation where I have problems in my own country.”
BelTA wrote on social media that Neumann had been forced to leave the US because of “politically motivated charges”. BelTA also released images of Neumann with a government official shaking hands and holding his new travel documents.
A federal grand jury in Washington in December indicted Neumann on 14 counts, including assaulting a police officer and engaging in physical violence on Capitol grounds. Neumann is accused of hitting two officers in the Capitol on Jan. 6 and using a metal barricade as a “battering ram” to hit officers trying to stop the mob.
According to court records, Neumann does not have an attorney. Just two weeks ago, the court listed him as a “refugee”.
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