A few weeks before a mob forced its way into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to disrupt or stop the formal tally of President Biden's electoral victory, a group of far-right protesters breached the Oregon Capitol in Salem. And State Rep. Mike Nearman (R) let them in, according to security footage obtained by The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting in January. Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson announced Friday that Nearman will face criminal charges for "unlawfully and knowingly" opening the door for rioters on Dec. 21 "with intent to obtain a benefit or to harm another."
"Oregon State Police and Salem police contained the raucous crowd, some of whom were armed with guns, to a vestibule of the Capitol and ultimately removed them from the building," The Oregonian reports. At least five people involved in the breach and property damage were arrested, and "at least three people who participated in the Salem protest went on to participate in the attack on the U.S. Capitol," OBP reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
After the video's release, Nearman was stripped of all committee assignments, relieved of his building pass, billed $2,700 for damages, and urged to resign by Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (D). Nearman, 57, has now been charged with two misdemeanors, for first-degree official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 11, and if he does not, a warrant will be issued for his arrest, court documents show.
Kotek and House Majority Leader Barbara Smith (D) repeated their calls for his resignation Friday. Republicans in the Legislature have mostly kept silent on Nearman's conduct, but House Republican Leader Christine Drazan said in January that she will support the results of a criminal investigation. "State legislators are the voices of their community," Drazan told The Washington Post on Saturday. "They are not above the law."
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Crossword: August 23, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
The countries around the world without jury trialsThe Explainer Legal systems in much of continental Europe and Asia do not rely on randomly selected members of the public
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
