Evan Neumann (born June 22, 1972) is an American

software developer Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, Computer programming, programming, software documentation, documenting, software testing, testing, and Software bugs, bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applic ...

who left the US following his alleged activities during the

2021 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...

and was granted permanent refugee status in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. Fearing extradition by the Ukrainian authorities, he fled Ukraine for Belarus where he sought and obtained

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

. Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

Early life

Neumann was born on June 22, 1972, to father Claus Neumann, a

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

hotelier who owned the Los Robles Lodge and Hotel La Rose.

Personal life and career

Neumann lived in

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census. Mill Valley is located on the western and ...

before leaving for a Europe trip. He works as a freelance software developer. He has been granted two patents from the USPTO since his departure from the United States and resettlement in Belarus. He has a brother named Mark.

Tubbs Fire

Neumann was arrested in 2018 when crossing police lines to access his mother's fire-damaged home in

Fountain Grove, California Fountain Grove was a utopian colony founded near Santa Rosa, California, by Thomas Lake Harris in 1875. Most of its settlers were followers of Harris's Brotherhood of the New Life and moved with Harris from their previous colony at Brocton, New Y ...

, following the

Tubbs Fire The Tubbs Fire was a wildfire in Northern California during October 2017. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in ...

. He pleaded ''no contest'' at his subsequent trial where he represented himself. He was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and two years probation.

2021 United States Capitol attack

The US Justice Department stated that Neumann confronted police at the

and asked them: "I'm willing to have a discussion, are you?" In 2022, NPR quoted the federal

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

against him: "he broke down barricades and used his fists and the metal object to strike fences. He allegedly assaulted at least four different fences and barricades over the course of several hours". Following the events of the day, Neumann left and traveled to several countries, and eventually to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

to escape alleged political persecution by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

. In August 2021, Neumann was concerned that Ukrainian authorities were tracking him and he crossed into Belarus by foot near Pinsk where he sought asylum, claiming he was facing "political persecution" in the US. In November 2021, he was interviewed on Belarusian state-owned television channel

Belarus 1 Belarus 1 ( be, Беларусь 1) is a state-owned television channel in Belarus. It is the oldest television channel in the country. The channel is on air from 6:00 am to 2:00 am on the next day, in contrast with most public channels in Europ ...

and rejected the charges against him. On December 10, 2021, a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

indicted him for fourteen offences including assaulting a fence, and violent entry. In March 2022, Neumann was granted asylum by the

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

government. He is living in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Evan 1972 births American emigrants to Belarus American software engineers Fugitives wanted by the United States Living people People associated with the January 6 United States Capitol attack People criminally charged for acts during the January 6 United States Capitol attack People from Mill Valley, California