State lawmaker faces charges for allegedly allowing protesters into Oregon Capitol
A Republican state lawmaker faces charges over allegedly allowing a group of protesters into the Oregon Capitol last year.
Rep. Mike Nearman was charged with official misconduct and criminal trespass, both misdemeanors, by the Marion County district attorney on Friday, after an investigation by the Oregon State Police.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 11. ABC News has reached out to Nearman for comment.
A security video of the Dec. 21 incident obtained by ABC Oregon affiliate KATU appears to show Nearman leaving the Capitol in Salem, which was closed to the public due to the pandemic, during a one-day special session. Several protesters, who were rallying that day against the state's COVID-19 measures, can be seen entering the building and clashing with police.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/state-lawmaker-faces-charges-for-allegedly-allowing-protesters-into-oregon-capitol/ar-BB1ggmNU
GOP lawmaker charged with ‘knowingly’ letting rioters breach the Oregon Capitol
As far-right demonstrators gathered outside the Oregon Capitol in December in the hope of ending coronavirus restrictions, state Rep. Mike Nearman (R) appeared to deliberately allow entry to two men trying to breach the building as he was leaving.
Without hesitation, two rioters on Dec. 21 rushed inside the state Capitol in Salem, Ore., held doors open and signaled for others to come in before police arrived to cut off the security breach, according to surveillance video obtained by the Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Nearman, 57, now faces criminal charges for his role in allegedly allowing the rioters to breach the Oregon Capitol, Marion County District Attorney Paige E. Clarkson announced Friday. The GOP lawmaker has been charged with misdemeanor counts of first-degree official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Nearman — who was stripped of his committee assignments and has faced calls to resign in recent months — “unlawfully and knowingly” opened the door for the far-right group “with intent to obtain a benefit or to harm another.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gop-lawmaker-charged-with-knowingly-letting-rioters-breach-the-oregon-capitol/ar-BB1ggyNi
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