Anti-gay Republican resigns in disgrace after gleefully streaming himself breaking into the Capitol
Republican lawmaker Derrick Evans has resigned
Anti-gay Republican lawmaker Derrick Evans has resigned after he was charged as part of the mob storming the US Capitol last week.
The avid Trump supporter, an anti-abortion protester and former football coach, only took up his seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates just over a month ago, after winning a previously-Democratic area in November’s election.
Evans was forced to resign on Saturday after he was arrested for illegally entering the Capitol building, having made the ill-judged decision to live-stream himself committing a federal offence.
In a since-deleted stream on Facebook, Evans could be seen cheering on crowds breaking open the doors to the building, before joining them inside and shouting: “We’re in! Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”
He was arrested on Friday (8 January), the Department of Justice said, on one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Evans resigned with a one-sentence letter, informing the state’s governor Jim Justice: “I hereby resign as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, effective immediately.”
In a statement after his resignation, Evans said: “The past few days have certainly been a difficult time for my family, colleagues and myself, so I feel it’s best at this point to resign my seat in the House and focus on my personal situation and those I love.
“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.”
Derrick Evans has anti-LGBT record.
The Friendly Atheist notes that Derrick Evans has long maintained an extreme record, and was subject to a restraining order in 2019 after harassing women who worked at a local women’s health clinic.
He has also raged against LGBT-inclusive sex education ahead of the 2020 election, posting a Facebook rant spreading a number of outright falsehoods about the sex ed book It’s Perfectly Normal.
In the Facebook post, he falsely claimed that the book included “nude pictures” of adults having sex and teens masturbating.
Republican lawmaker Derrick Evans has resigned (Official photo)
He added: “The book tells your children to ignore religious convictions about sin. It goes into great detail about homosexuality, and goes as far to say that gay men are considered to have the highest form of love.
“It normalizes boy on boy and girl on girl exploring and touching each other’s bodies. The book says people who disapprove of LGBTQ lifestyles, base their opinions on fears and misinformation.
“Those showing this to our children should be locked up. Once elected I will work to pass legislation that stops this from happening anywhere in West Virginia. I will always stand and Fight For Christian Values.”
