US citizen from Trump supporters accused of the attack on the Capitol has fled to Russia

A Californian man accused of assaulting police in the Jan 6 rioting at the US Capitol has fled the United States and is believed to have taken refuge in Belarus, representatives of US federal prosecutors said on Friday.

Evan Newman, 49, was charged Friday with 14 criminal charges stemming from the bloody siege of the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump at the time, expanding on the charges originally filed in a criminal complaint against Newman in March.

Prosecutors said in a statement that Newman was seen in video footage wearing a gas mask while standing near police in front of the Capitol barricades.

According to documents filed in the case, Newman later took off his gas mask and shouted at police, “I’m ready to die, are you?”

Before he physically assaulted several policemen and pushed a barrier towards them.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement that Neumann, who has not yet appeared in court in the case, fled the United States on February 16 and is “currently believed to be in Belarus”.

Newman is one of more than 220 people charged with violating or obstructing law enforcement during the Jan 6 attack on Capitol Hill, which disrupted a joint session of Congress to formally certify Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 presidential election over Republican Trump.

Four people died on the day of the riots, and a congressional policeman died the following day from injuries he sustained while defending Congress.

Hundreds of policemen were injured during the clash, which lasted for hours.