Nearman pleads guilty to official misconduct for role in Oregon Capitol invasion
(The Center Square) – Expelled Oregon lawmaker Mike Nearman will pay $2,700 in fines and spend 80 hours performing community service for abetting a mob at the Oregon Capitol on Dec. 21.
Those conditions are part of a plea bargain Nearman struck on Tuesday in Marion County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to first degree official misconduct. The Polk County Republican was also charged with criminal trespass back in May but saw that charge dropped as part of his plea bargain.
Nearman sought a jury trial before the release of a video of him planning the Dec. 21 incident in the office of the conservative Freedom Foundation think tank in Salem. The think tank has denied any involvement and the gathered audience has not been identified.
On Dec. 21, Capitol surveillance footage shows Nearman opening a door to a mob of some 300 Trump supporters while the building was closed to the public due to COVID. The mob injured several police officers and two reporters at the scene. They included the Proud Boys, a far-right “Western chauvinist” group, and Joey Gibson, founder of the far-right Patriot Prayer group, which often rallies with the Proud Boys and other far-right groups.
State lawmakers were gathered in the capitol building for a special session at the time. Some 50 members of the mob breached a capitol vestibule, resulting in six arrests.
Based on the terms of his plea bargain, Nearman will be banned from the capitol grounds for 18 months while he serves an 18-month probation. He will also owe $2,700 in restitution for damages done to the Capitol or just under the damages he was billed for by Capitol administrative services. In addition, he will pay another $200 in court fees.
Since he was expelled in June, Nearman has continued to run his own news site, The Northwest Observer, dedicated to covering his former workplace. The site is owned by Nearman, according to financial disclosures filed with the state legislature. It became active in 2019. The site includes reporting from three regular contributors. Nearman has not reported any income from the site and does not list his name anywhere on the webpage.
Nearman and his attorney declined to speak with members of the media present at Tuesday’s hearing in Marion County Circuit Court. He was succeeded by Anna Scharf, his former legislative aide, this month by a vote of the Polk, Marion and Yamhill County Commissioners.
It’s unclear whether Nearman will campaign for his old House seat again. A bill in the state legislature this year would have blocked expelled Oregon lawmakers from being appointed to their former seats. It received no hearings in the last week of the 2021 session.
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