At least two are campaigning to hold office in the U.S. Capitol—the site of a protest that turned violent on Jan. 6, 2021.
While many of the pardoned Jan. 6 defendants are quietly rebuilding their lives after four years of prosecutions and scrutiny, a few are jumping back into the political fray with high ambitions.
At least two are campaigning to hold office in the U.S. Capitol, the site of a protest that turned violent on Jan. 6, 2021, leading to criminal charges against nearly 1,600 participants, a fraction of whom were charged with violent offenses.
They were part of a massive rally for President Donald Trump as he disputed his 2020 election loss; Trump granted clemency to all defendants this year after voters returned him to office.
So far, two men have declared candidacy for the U.S. Senate: Derrick Evans of West Virginia and Jacob Lang, a New York-to-Florida transplant who goes by “Jake.” And several other former Jan. 6 defendants told The Epoch Times they may also be announcing congressional runs.
Evans, 40, was the sole state legislator prosecuted for participating in the protest. After his arrest for nonviolent actions, he resigned from the West Virginia House of Delegates post that he had just won. Evans later admitted to a felony civil disorder charge and spent three months in federal prison.
Although Evans unsuccessfully ran for a House seat last year, he remains undeterred from aiming higher.
“We need American patriots who are willing to step up and make some sacrifices to preserve individual freedom and liberty for our children and future grandchildren,” the married father of four told The Epoch Times. “And I don’t trust the politicians in [Washington] D.C. to do that. But I do trust myself and my fellow January 6th political prisoners to obviously go and advocate for smaller government.”
Lang, 30, was imprisoned without a trial for four years and six days. His incarceration persisted largely because his own lawyers requested trial delays. But Lang told The Epoch Times he agreed to postponements “to possibly have a better chance at justice.” He and other Jan. 6 defendants say they had trouble accessing video footage that could exonerate them or mitigate their guilt.
By Janice Hisle
