Belarus grants refugee status to Capitol riot defendant

Belarus granted refugee status to Capitol riot defendant Evan Neumann, according to Belarusian state-run media, which circulated a photo of him apparently holding country documents. 

“US citizen Evan Newman received refugee status in Belarus. The document was handed to him in the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Brest Regional Executive Committee on March 22, 2022,” the Belarusian Telegraph Agency reported on Twitter. 

In an interview with the state-run outlet, he said he had “mixed feelings” but thanked Belarus, which “took care of me,” CNN reported.

“I am upset to find myself in a situation where I have problems in my own country,” he told the Belarusian-state media on Tuesday, according to the network. Court records indicate he does not have a lawyer and has been considered a “fugitive.”

U.S. officials said in December that Neumann had left for the country following 14 charges he received in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Officials allege he assaulted Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department officers with a metal barricade and that he did not adhere to orders to leave the Capitol that evening, staying past 5 p.m.

The charges against him include civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds.

He is among the hundreds of people who have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election results.

The development also comes amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in which Belarus is seen as being complicit.