A January 6 rioter who pleaded guilty and served prison time announces his bid for Congress on the anniversary of the insurrection
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- A former Capitol rioter announced his run for Congress on the two-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.
- Derrick Evans, who served three months in federal prison, is running in West Virginia's 1st Congressional District.
- His website says he'd work with pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell to "fight for election integrity" if elected.
Wearing a crisp suit and standing beneath a "Live. Laugh. Love." art piece, former Capitol rioter Derrick Evans on Friday announced his plans to run for Congress on the Republican ticket.
"Today is a day to celebrate," Evans said on the two-year anniversary of the insurrection at the US Capitol, "but for me, that hasn't always been the case when it comes to January 6."
Evans, who pleaded guilty in February 2022 to "impeding, obstructing or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder" on January 6 and served three months in federal prison, is running to represent West Virginia's 1st Congressional District, which will be held by Republican Representative-elect Carol Miller once a speaker has been chosen.
In the video he posted announcing his run for office, Evans briefly detailed his experiences at the Capitol on January 6, saying the events "changed his life forever." Evans said he "walked through an open set of doors" to enter the Capitol on January 6. While true that the doors had been opened, he failed to mention that he was close to the mob that pried the doors open per his signed plea agreement and statement of offense.
"The door's cracked! We're going in," the statement of offense says Evans shouted when the Capitol's rotunda doors were breached.
Once inside the building, records show that Evans exclaimed, "We're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!"
Evans' campaign website does not mention his time at the Capitol in his biography but says on his "Issues" page that he was arrested for "peacefully protesting" on January 6th.
While many Capitol rioters have publicly denounced their affiliations with former President Donald Trump, Evans continues to support the embattled president, echoing Trump and calling the current presidential administration the "illegitimate Biden regime."
Notably, Evans' campaign site lists "Election Inegrity" as one of its key issues.
"I don't mince words. The 2020 election was stolen," Evans' page notes. It says that if elected, he'd work with pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell, among others, to "fight for election integrity."
According to Insider's databases, Evans is one of more than 975 rioters to be arrested for their actions on January 6 and is one of 465 to plead guilty.