A supporter of former American president Donald Trump, wanted by US prosecutors on claims he was among a crowd of rioters who stormed the US Capitol building earlier this year, has told RT how he came to claim asylum in Belarus.
In an interview set to be published on Saturday, Evan Neumann recounted how he feared he would be extradited from neighboring Ukraine as part of a deal with the White House, ahead of a meeting between President Joe Biden and his counterpart in Kiev, Volodymyr Zelensky. For that reason, the Californian says, he decided to try to reach Belarus on foot.
“I knew that I couldn’t cross at a border, through the normal border guards, because I knew that I would be arrested and delivered to the Americans as a gift for the upcoming summit,” he alleges. “And I found a national forest on the map,” he went on, “but it was a swamp with snakes and wild boars and more spiders than you can imagine.”
Neumann is accused of violent entry and disorderly conduct as part of the January 6 riots in Washington, as well as being charged with “assaulting, redirecting, or impeding” law enforcement officers and “knowingly entering or remaining in” a restricted building.
The American says he relocated earlier this year to Ukraine, where he stayed for four months. However, after just two weeks, he claims he was tailed by Ukrainian Security Service officers, and eventually decided to seek asylum in Belarus.
The American says he moved in March from California to Ukraine, where he stayed for four months. He claims that, after just two weeks, he saw Ukrainian Security Service officers following him, which eventually led to his decision to move to Belarus and seek asylum.
On his journey to Belarus, he trekked across swamps of northern Ukraine before reaching the border near Pinsk.
According to the FBI, Neumann was a part of the mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump that stormed the United States Capitol in Washington on January 6 this year. The attack, known commonly as ‘the insurrection’, sought to disrupt and delay the Electoral College vote count that would confirm Joe Biden’s election as the 46th US president. The rioting led directly to five deaths and has since been blamed for four police officers committing suicide.
Speaking to Belarusian TV, Neumann claimed that he was innocent.
“I’m charged, I believe, with six cases. And I think all of them are felonies. A felony is a very serious charge. It means you hurt somebody or something,” he explained. “I don’t think I committed any crime. One of the charges was very serious. The allegation is that I hit a police officer. It is completely unfounded.”
Neumann doesn’t deny that he was at the riot. He has claimed that he is innocent and was not responsible for an altercation with law enforcement officers.
In the words of TV channel Belarus 1, Neumann “sought justice” and “asked uncomfortable questions,” and is now “being persecuted by the US government.”
According to Belarus’ Ministry of Internal Affairs, three US citizens have applied for refugee status, protection, or asylum in Belarus in 2021.
Neumann’s trek through Ukraine’s swampy forests wasn’t his first trip to the country. According to the FBI, he took part in the Western-backed Orange Revolution in 2004 and 2005, which led to a pro-NATO/anti-Russian government in Kiev.