Former Oregon lawmaker sentenced to probation for letting protesters into state Capitol
A former Oregon state lawmaker was sentenced to probation and community service on Tuesday for allowing protesters into the closed Capitol building in December.
Michael Nearman, 57, pleaded guilty to official misconduct in the first degree and will serve 18 months probation and must complete 80 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay $2,700 for damage caused to the building by the protesters. A criminal trespass charge that was also brought against Nearman was dropped as part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, according to local ABC affiliate KATU.
Security footage made public in January shows the Republican on Dec. 21 opening a door from inside the Capitol and allowing protesters, who were among a crowd of Trump supporters and members of the right-wing Patriot Prayer group, to enter during an active legislative session. He was charged on the two misdemeanor counts in April.
OREGON HOUSE EXPELS REPUBLICAN WHO LET RIOTERS INTO STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
In June, Oregon’s Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek announced the creation of a special committee to consider Nearman’s expulsion from the chamber after more footage surfaced of the lawmaker telling people how they could get into the Capitol with his help.
In the video, Nearman is seen explaining a plot called “Operation Hall Pass,” about which he said he would claim ignorance if pressed on it.
“If you accuse me of knowing something about [it], I’ll deny it. But there would be some person’s cellphone, which might be,” he said as he offered a phone number.
“But that was just random numbers that I screened up,” he said. “That’s not anybody’s actual cellphone. And if you say, ‘I am at the west entrance,’ during the session and text to that number there, that somebody might exit that door while you’re standing there.”
The Oregon House expelled Nearman from the chamber on June 10 in a 59-1 vote, with himself being the only vote against the expulsion resolution.
Despite his guilty plea, Nearman disputed that he was criminally responsible for letting protesters inside.
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“I don’t think I committed a crime, and I don’t think I did anything wrong,” Nearman told conservative radio host Lars Larson on Tuesday.
"It made more sense to pay a $3,000 fine and do a little community service than pay $20,000, $30,000 more to attorneys," he said.
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Tags: News, Oregon, Crime, Republicans, State Legislatures
Original Author: Jeremy Beaman
Original Location: Former Oregon lawmaker sentenced to probation for letting protesters into state Capitol
