A Capitol riot suspect who fled to Belarus claims the FBI interviewed him at the airport but let him go

• A Capitol riot suspect seeking asylum in Belarus said he was interviewed by the FBI at the airport.
• Evan Neumann told Russian state media he was let go so he “can’t be charged with fleeing.”
• The FBI put Neumann, who is from California, on its most-wanted list in July.

A Capitol riot suspect who fled to Belarus said FBI agents interviewed him at the airport but let him go.

In an interview with the Russian state media outlet RT, which aired over the weekend, Evan Neumann said he left the US for Europe because he didn’t have enough money to defend himself.

“My manufacturer was in Italy, so I planned a business trip. I was interviewed by the FBI and let go at the airport. They knew what I was doing and they let me go,” Neumann, who is from Mill Valley, California, told RT.

He said he believes that for that reason, he “can’t be charged with fleeing.”

Watch the full interview here:

The FBI put Neumann on its most-wanted list in July. Neumann faces six criminal charges relating to the January 6 attack, including assaulting police officers, obstructing law enforcement, and knowingly entering the Capitol without permission, according to a March criminal complaint.

The documents said FBI agents had interviewed Neumann at San Francisco International Airport in February, where he admitted to taking a trip to Washington, DC, on the weekend of January 6 but declined to say whether he entered any federal buildings.

There is no indication in any other court documents that FBI officials interviewed Neumann a second time when he left for Italy. He said he left for Italy in March, The Moscow Times reported, citing a story by the state-run Belarus 1 broadcaster.

The FBI did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Neumann previously told Belarus 1 that he traveled to Italy, took a train to Switzerland, and drove through Germany and Poland before arriving in Ukraine, where he rented an apartment for four months, The Moscow Times reported. 

But two weeks into his stay, Neumann said he noticed Ukrainian security services “following” him, so decided to flee to the neighboring country of Belarus, where border authorities detained him on August 15, The Moscow Times reported.

In his RT interview, Neumann said he “gave himself in” at the border and was put in a detention center for a few days.

He was released after several interviews with Belarusian authorities, he told RT, adding that he was on a “trial period” and waiting on his paperwork to be processed. 

Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.