A Bay Area man, currently on the FBI's Most Wanted list for taking part in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, has fled the country and is seeking asylum in authoritarian-run Belarus.
Forty-eight year old Evan Neumann of Mill Valley was charged with six crimes in March over his role in the riots, including two felonies for assaulting a police officer and participating in civil disorder. Photos from the Capitol riots included in federal documents show Neumann pushing against the guard rail and punching a police officer.
Since charges were levied, Neumann has evaded federal law enforcement, eventually escaping to Europe earlier this year.
He appeared on state-run television in Belarus on Sunday during a segment called "Goodbye America!" and recounted his travels in a one-on-one interview with the station.
The channel presenter introduced him as an American who "sought justice and asked uncomfortable questions" about the 2020 U.S. presidential election and now "lost almost everything and is being persecuted by the U.S. government."
Neumann told the station he left the country on the advice of his lawyer in March when he flew to Italy from the U.S. – which is when his long, winding escape began. He then traveled to Switzerland by train, drove to Germany, Poland and finally Ukraine, where he stayed for four months before leaving because he claimed he was being followed by the country's secret service.
As a result, in August, he illegally crossed by foot into Belarus, traversing through swampy forest land and avoiding wild boars and vipers. He has been in the country ever since and is claiming asylum.
Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
The country is commonly referred to as "Europe's last dictatorship" due to President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled with an iron first over the past two decades. He has frequently been the center of horrifying accusations over human rights abuses and his treatment of political opponents, most recently those who disputed the results of his reelection last year.
Out of the more than 650 people that were federally charged in the Capitol riots, Neumann is one of only three that have either evaded arrest or failed to show up in court after their initial arrest, according to BuzzFeed.
Neumann previously worked as a handbag manufacturer in Mill Valley. KGO reported he had sold his one-bedroom, one-bath home in the North Bay town, where he lived for seven years, for $1.3 million last April.
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