State lawmaker suspected of letting demonstrators into Oregon Capitol
Sources say Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, was shown on video surveillance footage exiting the Capitol on Dec. 21. Demonstrators gained access directly afterward, setting up a showdown.
According to one person with knowledge of the investigation, after Nearman exited the Capitol he appears to have walked around the building and used his ID badge to re-enter from the south side. The Legislature was meeting in a special session on Dec. 21 to approve a variety of new spending measures and extend the state’s ban on residential evictions. The Capitol building has been closed to the public since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearman has served in the state House since 2015 and is one of the chamber’s most conservative Republicans. He has worked on an unsuccessful attempt to recall Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, is a plaintiff in an ongoing lawsuit seeking to overturn Brown’s emergency orders to address COVID-19 and was recently among 11 sitting state lawmakers to sign a letter in support of a Texas lawsuit challenging the presidential election in four states.
Nearman’s been tied to right-wing protests at the Capitol before. In 2017, his then-legislative aide gave a gun to a convicted felon, who then brought it to a pro-Trump demonstration at the building, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Court records show the aide, Angela Roman, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in the incident.
While demonstrators were eventually cleared from the Capitol after their incursion on Dec. 21, some in their number clashed and used pepper spray against officers. Some vandalized the Capitol, breaking panes on glass doors. At least one man was captured on camera assaulting or intimidating members of the press who were on hand outside the building.
https://www.opb.org/article/2021/01/07/state-lawmaker-nearman-oregon-capitol/
Fascists in our midst.
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