Derrick Evans, who was defeated in the 2016 presidential election, took part in the assault on the US Capitol in January 2021. He joined hundreds of supporters.

He is now running for the same legislative body that he was targeting on that day.

He’s not the only one: in the United States this year, a dozen or so people who were involved in the siege on the Capitol — a terror attack that shaken confidence in the stability and democracy of America — have run for local office or are running to do so.

Evans is running for a Republican seat in the US Congress in his state. Evans, who is running for a seat in the US Congress, has framed his January 6 experience positively.

Evans, a now-real estate investor who is Evans described himself in an interview with AFP as a political prisoner.

The hundreds of protesters who invaded Capitol Hill, enraged by Trump’s claim that his election was “stolen”, hoped to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden the new president.

Evans, a newly-installed member of the West Virginia House of Delegates at the time, live streamed his entry into the building. He was wearing a black helmet and shouted “Freedom!”. To ensure that his identity wasn’t in doubt, he announced “Derrick Evans” is at the Capitol.

His actions on that day led to a three-month sentence for a felony civil disturbance charge. Evans pleaded guilty, but claimed he was only in the Capitol as an independent journalist.

Evans said, “The Deep State came into my home and took me away from my family, my wife, and my four kids.” Evans was referring to conspiracy theorists who claim that a shadowy anti-Trump administration secretly controls American society.

Hunted or Hunters? –

His campaign website’s home page is a proud declaration of his past: “J6 prisoner running for US Congress.”

Evans says that “when I become a member of Congress, the hunters will be the hunted”, a phrase that echoes Trumps “retribution’ threat against political opponents if re-elected.

Evans isn’t the only veteran who uses the attack on the Capitol to argue for his election.

Jason Riddle is running for Congress as a Republican in the state of New Hampshire in the northeastern region. He describes himself as a “recently released political prisoner on January 6th with a message if hope.”

Kimberly Dragoo is one of those who have lost their election. Dragoo ran for a position on the local board of education, but she did not receive her sentence – two weeks in jail – until last week.

Trump has promised amnesty to the January 6 crowd if he comes back to power.

Critics claim he’s trying to change the public’s perception of the bloody events that took place on the Capitol, portraying the Capitol’s intruders as the victims of “political persecutors” just like he says he’s the target.

– ‘Embrace it’ –

Evans replies, “I didn’t.” When asked why he decided to capitalize on the January 6 event, he says: “I did not.” This was fake news.

I had two choices. I had two options: I could either run away from it or embrace. “I chose to embrace it.”

Does he regret that day in any way?

He said, “My regret was believing we had God-given natural rights to free speech and that there was still a constitution in this country.”

Evans claims that the West Virginian voters he met did not care about his legal battle.

He said: “When people find out I was the guy elected who was arrested on January 6, they shake hands, thank me and say they’re going to vote for me.”

Evans faces another Trump-supporter in West Virginia’s Republican primary on May 14, Congresswoman Carol Miller.

Evans’ candidacy has been endorsed several conservative figures including Miller’s colleague, Representative Bob Good, and former Trump advisers Roger Stone and Michael Flynn.

He said he had a difficult time believing that Trump could be defeated in his November run against President Joe Biden.

Biden said that if he is re-elected, he would “teach my family to live like Amish” who reject much of modern civilisation, and “get ready for the fall of this country.”