HBO’s John Oliver Lampoons Mill Valley Insurrection Suspect

MILL VALLEY, CA – A Mill Valley man wanted by federal authorities in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has fled the country claiming to be the victim of political persecution, and an HBO show pounced.

Evan Neumann earlier this month told Belarus state-run television that he’s seeking asylum in the Eastern European nation, according to The Associated Press.

Leaving aside the question of Neumann’s culpability, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver found the 48-year-old’s choice of countries in which to seek asylum to be a head-scratcher.

“Oh, great idea, Evan!” Oliver said.

“You’re worried about political persecution, so you go to Belarus, a country run by a man who calls himself ‘the last and only dictator in Europe.’ You can read all about the free-flowing exchange of ideas in any of Belarus’ publications, like “redacted: magazine” and “all praise our glorious leader who isn’t bald quarterly.”

Neumann, who earlier this year sold his Mill Valley home for $1.3 million, is among more than 650 people who have been charged in connection with the riot on the Capitol.

Neumann faces six counts including assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

He is seen in video obtained by ABC 7 attacking police amid the riot.

Neumann acknowledged in the Belarus television interview that he attended the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol in support of then-President Donald Trump's baseless claims of election fraud, but the 48-year-old said he did not break any laws.

"I don't think I have committed some kind of a crime," Neumann told Belarus 1, according to The AP report.

"One of the charges was very offensive; it alleges that I hit a police officer. It doesn't have any grounds to it."

Neumann was seen on Jan. 6 in front of a police barricade wearing a "Make America Great Again" as Trump supporters tried to force their way past officers, taunting and screaming at police before putting a gas mask over his face, The Associated Press reports, citing U.S. court documents.

At one point, Neumann told an officer that police would be "overrun" by the crowd, according to the report.

"I'm willing to die, are you?" he told the officer, prosecutors said, according to the report.

He was identified by authorities by a family friend who called an FBI tip line, the report said.

Neumann is among more than 650 people who have been charged in connection with the insurrection.

He told Belarus 1 that he initially fled to Italy after his photo surfaced on the FBI's most wanted list and has since spent time in several European countries.

Neumann subsequently went to Ukraine, and then fled that country by illegally crossing into neighboring Belarus, citing suspicions that he was under surveillance in Ukraine, the report said.

"It is awful," he told Belarus 1. "It is political persecution."