Republican lawmaker resigns after arrest for storming US Capitol

Enlarge / Derrick Evans in the West Virginia House of Delegates. (credit: Derrick Evans)

The Republican lawmaker who was arrested for storming the US Capitol has resigned from the West Virginia State Legislature. "I hereby resign as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, effective immediately," Derrick Evans wrote in a one-sentence letter to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Saturday.

Evans also released a statement saying, "I take full responsibility for my actions, and deeply regret any hurt, pain or embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends, constituents and fellow West Virginians. I hope this action I take today can remove any cloud of distraction from the state Legislature, so my colleagues can get to work in earnest building a brighter future for our state." Evans also wrote that he hopes his resignation will help "begin the healing process" for the United States.

Evans, who served in the state legislature for just one month before his resignation, was part of the Trump-incited insurrectionist mob that broke into the US Capitol on Wednesday last week in an attempt to stop certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory. Evans livestreamed himself on Facebook while chanting Trump's name and yelling, "We're in! We're in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!" In another video he posted earlier in the day, he said that "people who are tired of liberals running this country and stealing elections" should "get off the couch and show up today in force and send a message." The Trump-incited mob violence led to the death of a US Capitol police officer.

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