From Pursuit to Amnesty
Motivation to protest
- Started a new business and released the product, a women's handbag, on February 11, 2020 in NYC. Due to the nature of the handbag it can only be sold in person in boutiques.
- The government's response to Covid-19 was to shut down all businesses, including boutiques. This effectively closed Evan's business.
- Black Lives Matter protests were allowed to burn and loot these businesses. Three member boutiques were burned or looted as well as the Italian supplier. You could not buy the handbags, but you could steal them.
- Because the business was started in 2020, no government programs existed to help.
- Evan was forced to sell his home and move away from his children.
- The shenanigans with the 2020 election and the dismissed legal cases contesting election results, led Evan to attend the January 6 Capitol Protest
The Capitol Protest
January 6th
Evan started at the Ellipse watching President Trump speak, but left early to attend the Stop the Steal Protest at the Capitol before the vote count was scheduled. When he arrived at the West side of the Capitol there were not many protesters and he found himself at the police line. He did become angry and yelled some inappropriate things. But, contrary to the criminal complaint never became violent nor aggressed against the police. At one point he peacefully entered the Capitol, but was pushed out by very aggressive police within about 15 minutes. His intention was to be passively resistive. ie: was willing to be beaten and pushed, but was not willing to push or beat others.
The Charges
There are 14 charges pending. Primarily these are Civil Disorder and Assaulting or Resisting Officers. A few are for parading in a government building and threatening the life of a congressman. Some of the lesser charges may be valid, but the bulk of these charges are fabricated or exaggerated. Considering similar cases over the preceding year where charges were either not filed or dropped, and the hardships faced by Evan and his family, dropping all charges would be fair and just.
Pursuit
On February 13, 2021, Evan was approached by the FBI at the boarding gate of his flight to Germany at SFO. He was interviewed and released. From Germany he travelled to Italy to consult with his handbag factory and then searched Europe for open boutiques able to sell his handbags, but found none. He did however find an exotic stone quarry in Ukraine and travelled there in hopes of selling this stone to American distributors. While in Ukraine Evan received two patents from the USPTO for handbags and avalanche control devices. Around June of 2021 the FBI unsealed an indictment against Evan. Within a few weeks the Ukrainian SBU came looking for him and he decided that the extremely short time indicated it was politically motivated and so fled through a swamp to Belarus seeking refuge.
Amnesty in Belarus
Within 24 hours of arriving in Belarus a temporary refugee status was granted and six months later permanent refugee status was awarded. While living in Belarus Evan received many gifts of clothes and food from newfound friends and was able to start teaching English. He is now in the process of opening an American style diner in the city of Brest.
