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A newly elected West Virginia lawmaker posted video of himself among the crowd that stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday — prompting calls for his resignation.
Republican Del. Derrick Evans has since deleted the video showing him and a throng of Trump supporters breaching the building in protest of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
“We’re in, baby!” he says in the clip, copies of which are still circulating on Twitter.
Evans can also be seen inside milling about the Capitol Rotunda in a helmet, yelling “no vandalizing.”
The first-time officeholder was elected in November to represent Wayne County.
In a Facebook post, he called himself “an independent member of the media to film history” while on a bus traveling home to West Virginia, West Virginia Metro News said.
“I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactions with law enforcement nor did I participate in any destruction that may have occurred,” Evans added.
Democratic leaders in West Virginia have already called on Evans to resign and “be prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.” About 10,000 people have signed an online petition calling for his removal from office.
Roger Hanshaw, the speaker of the state House of Delegates, said Evans will need to “answer to his constituents and colleagues regarding his involvement in what has occurred today.”
Hanshaw suggested Evans could be criminally charged.
“While free speech and peaceful protests are a core value of American society, storming government buildings and participating in a violent intentional disruption of one of our nation’s most fundamental political institutions is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said in a statement.
With Post wires
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