Neumann, 49, fled the country in February 2021, and a federal arrest warrant was issued for him in December, according to the FBI. He told Gazeta, a Russian news site, he feels he is safe in Belarus.
Neumann is one of hundreds of people to be charged in connection with the riot, which left five people dead and launched a House select committee’s investigation, which is examining the activities of former President Donald Trump and his allies on the day of the attack. Though the riot happened more than a year ago, the arrests and trials for alleged perpetrators continue.
Neumann is charged with engaging in physical violence in a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon; civil disorder; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; and more, the FBI reported.
Video footage from the riot showed what appeared to be Neumann wearing a gas mask, according to a December release from the Department of Justice. After taking off the mask, the man began “verbally abusing” law enforcement officers protecting the Capitol building. He says they will be “overrun,” adding, “I’m willing to die, are you?”
The release said that Neumann allegedly took a metal barricade and “shoved it into the line of officers,” striking them with the barricade and his fist. The release also said he used the barricade as a “battering ram,” eventually entering the building and refusing orders from police to leave the Capitol grounds. He allegedly assaulted four officers while on the grounds.
Neumann told a Belarusian TV station he fled the U.S. in March 2021 under advice from his lawyer, traveling through Europe to get to Ukraine, where he lived for several months, CBS News reported. After claiming Ukraine’s security service was surveilling him, he crossed the border into Belarus on foot, he said.
During the TV station interview, Neumann said that he was innocent and that the U.S. government was persecuting him, according to CBS.
He told Gazeta that while he feels “calm” and likes it in Belarus, he has “mixed feelings” about being there. He said he is “glad because Belarus took care of me” but is upset that he was “in such a situation” in the first place.
It is unclear if there will be any political ramifications for Neumann being in Belarus, as the country is an ally of Russia, making Belarus the subject of sanctions from the U.S. and other countries for failing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a statement condemning both the Russian and Belarusian governments.
“The Lukashenka regime in Belarus continues its violent repression against civil society, anti-war protestors, the democratic opposition, independent media, and ordinary Belarusians,” he wrote.
Currently, the State Department puts its travel advisory for Belarus at a level four, the highest level, meaning it encourages all Americans not to travel there. Americans already there are encouraged to leave.
Update 03/22/22, 12:25 p.m. ET: This story was updated to add more information and background.
