A Republican state lawmaker in Oregon is facing criminal charges after he allegedly opened a door to the state Capitol and allowed anti-lockdown protesters into the building during a legislative session.
State Rep. Mike Nearman was hit Friday with misconduct in the first degree and criminal trespass in the second degree charges, according to a court document. The GOP representative “did unlawfully and knowingly aid” a group of unruly demonstrators who entered the building Dec. 21, 2020, while legislators convened inside,” authorities claimed.
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Footage appeared to show Nearman walking out of the building, opening the door, and walking out of the view of the camera as a protester rushed inside the building and gestured for others to follow him. Within moments, demonstrators clashed with state police before officers retreated through a doorway after pepper spray appeared to have been deployed by the anti-lockdown crowd.
OREGON STATE REPRESENTATIVE DEFENDS LETTING PROTESTERS INTO CAPITOL
Members of the group later broke windows and confronted journalists while inside the building, reported Oregon Public Broadcasting. At least five people were arrested in the incident, including a man who was said to have sprayed bear spray at officers during the initial confrontation.
Nearman is due in court on May 11, and a warrant for his arrest will be issued if he fails to appear. Prior to the charges, the representative was stripped of his committee assignments and criticized by his colleagues for his alleged actions in December 2020.
“He let a group of rioters enter the Capitol, despite his knowledge that only authorized personnel are allowed in the building due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” a complaint against Nearman read, adding that his alleged conduct was “completely unacceptable, reckless, and so severe that it will affect people’s ability to feel safe working in the Capitol or even for the legislature.”
In January, Nearman defended his conduct and insisted he doesn’t “condone violence.”
“I don’t condone violence nor participate in it,” Nearman said in a Jan. 13 statement. “I do think that when Article IV, Section 14 of the Oregon Constitution says that the legislative proceedings shall be ‘open,’ it means open, and as anyone who has spent the last nine months staring at a screen doing virtual meetings will tell you, it’s not the same thing as being open.”
Nearman accused state House Speaker Tina Kotek of deliberately releasing the footage of the incident after the Jan. 6 Capitol breach for political purposes. His family has been the target of “criticism, attacks at my home and threats via email, social media and phone” since the footage was released, he said.
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“The fact that she was in possession of a video for 16 days and only chose to reveal the video and implicate me on the day after an ugly mob descended on the Capitol in Washington, D.C., tells me that her motivations are about politics and not about safety,” Nearman said. “I hope for due process, and not the mob justice to which Speaker Kotek is subjecting me.”
Nearman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
