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Oregon lawmaker who let far-right demonstrators into Capitol charged with criminal misconduct


Video shot from multiple angles reveals more of how Rep. Mike Nearman enabled demonstrators to illegally enter the Oregon Capitol.

An Oregon lawmaker who let violent far-right demonstrators into the state Capitol during a Dec. 21 special session was criminally charged on Friday with first-degree official misconduct and second-degree criminal trespass.

Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, was caught on security videos opening a door and allowing demonstrators to enter the building. He had been under investigation since at least January for enabling the breach.

Nearman is scheduled to appear in court to face the charges on May 11. His attorney, Jason Short, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The first-degree official misconduct charge is for allegedly knowingly taking action that constituted an unauthorized exercise of his official duties to benefit someone else, according to court filings. The second charge is for allegedly abetting another person to enter and remain in the Capitol.

The charging document was signed and filed in Marion County Circuit Court on Friday.

Oregon’s Capitol has been closed to the public for the last year due to the pandemic. On Dec. 21, lawmakers were in the building for the third special session of 2020, which Gov. Kate Brown called to extend the state’s eviction moratorium, create a relief fund for landlords and pass wildfire and COVID-19 related funding.

As House lawmakers debated rules for the one-day proceeding around 8:30 a.m., Nearman left the chamber and exited a door near where right-wing demonstrators had gathered to protest the state’s coronavirus restrictions. Demonstrators, including some carrying rifles, were circulating outside the north face of the Capitol and one man carrying a large flag waited just outside the door that Nearman opened, according to security footage obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive through a public records request. Nearman exited and walked around the man with the flag, making no effort to keep him from entering the Capitol.

Surveillance video showed that once Nearman allowed demonstrators into the northwest Capitol vestibule, the group clashed with Oregon State Police and Salem police who tried to keep them out of the building. Demonstrators attempted to push past police, who rushed to eject the initial insurgents and physically block the doorway Nearman had just opened.

But after demonstrators sprayed police with a substance that was reportedly pepper spray, the largely white crowd, including a number of older people and a dog, succeeded in pushing its way into the vestibule. 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. At least two men alleged to be part of that breach have since been arrested on related charges, and additional demonstrators were arrested in connection to other actions later that day.

Earlier this year, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, called for Nearman to resign because his actions “put every person in the Capitol in serious danger,” and Kotek joined multiple other lawmakers to file a formal conduct complaint with the Legislative Equity Office alleging Nearman’s actions created a hostile work environment. Republicans said at the time they were withholding judgment as they waited to learn the findings of the Oregon State Police investigation and the investigation conducted for the Legislative Equity Office, which appears to be ongoing.

--Hillary Borrud

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