State Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence. (Courtesy/Freedom Foundation)
State Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, has Covid.
Nearman made the disclosure Monday during an appearance on The Lars Larson Show to discuss the charges he faces for allowing a group of demonstrators into the Capitol last year where they violently clashed with police.
“I have a really bad case of Covid and I’m kind of on the mend a little bit,” Nearman told the conservative talk show host in a phone interview.
Nearman faces charges of official misconduct and criminal trespass (both misdemeanors) for holding a door open for demonstrators during a special session in December. The incident was declared a riot by Salem police and multiple people were arrested and charged with crimes. Larson (who said he’s friends with the embattled lawmaker) characterized the incident as Nearman just letting members of the public into a public building.
While Nearman was tight-lipped about his motives for opening the door, he did reveal that he plans to fight the charges and will request a jury trial. Despite coming down with Covid, Nearman criticized Gov. Kate Brown’s most recent round of pandemic restrictions.
“Let’s set up some options where people have freedom to do what they want,” he said. “If you want to be masked and you want to be quarantined, go be quarantined. If you want to be out in public and that’s an acceptable risk to you then you can do that.”
-Jake Thomas
