Incoming Nevada Assemblywoman part of march to U.S. Capitol

Incoming Nevada state Assemblywoman Annie Black, a Republican from District 19, said she marched from the White House to the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, where she saw men on megaphones revving the crowd to storm the security barrier. She said she retreated to avoid being associated with the mob.

"We all had a choice when that fence came down," she said. "Whether it was our group that incited that to happen or another group, every single person had the choice to make."

Black, who lives in Mesquite and represents part of Clark County, was one of many lawmakers from at least seven states who traveled to Washington, D.C., for demonstrations surrounding the November election.

A Republican West Virginia state lawmaker has been federally charged for entering a restricted area of the U.S. Capitol after he livestreamed himself rushing into the building with a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters.

Ken Kohl, a top deputy federal prosecutor in Washington, announced the case against state Del. Derrick Evans on a call in which he presented dozens of new charges against members of the crowd that violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

He appeared before a federal judge in Huntington, West Virginia, on Friday afternoon after being arrested, news outlets reported. If convicted, he faces up to a year and a half in federal prison for two misdemeanors: entering a restricted area and disorderly conduct.

Federal Magistrate Judge Cheryl Eifert released him on his own recognizance.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano said he helped organize a bus ride to the demonstrations but left the U.S. Capitol area after the eruption of violence, which he called "unacceptable." The top Democrat in the Pennsylvania Senate, and eight of his colleagues, want him to resign, saying his actions and words disputing the election's integrity encouraged a coup attempt and inspired the people behind it.

Tennessee state Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver said Wednesday night that it had been an "epic and historic day." The Republican lawmaker told The Tennessean she was "in the thick of it" but hadn't seen any violence. Weaver did not respond to emailed questions from The Associated Press about whether she entered the Capitol.

Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem posted photos of himself attending the protest outside the Capitol, but his office said he observed from afar. Liberal groups in the state want him expelled for backing the effort to overturn the election.

Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase, an outspoken Trump supporter who is running for governor, attended the president's rally Wednesday in which Trump urged supporters to march to the Capitol. Chase said in a Facebook video that she left near the end of the rally on the advice of her security team, and there is no indication she was part of the group that stormed the Capitol.

Republican state Reps. David Eastman of Alaska and Justin Hill of Missouri both said they went to Washington to object to the Electoral College votes of several states confirming Biden's election, but didn't participate in the demonstrations.

The president of the national Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Jessica Post, said "any Republican legislator who took part in yesterday's insurrection, in Washington, D.C., or anywhere else in the country, should resign immediately."

Washington, D.C., officials said the FBI and the local Metropolitan Police Department were leading the investigation into identifying the participants in Wednesday's violence. D.C. police have arrested 68 people so far. The top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin, said 40 cases have already been presented in superior court and prosecutors plan to file 15 federal cases Thursday. Sherwin said "all options are on the table," including sedition charges.