"It seemed that anarchy reigned in the country": an American who asked for asylum in Belarus told RT how he left the United States

- Where I was, the police behaved extremely aggressively. But it was not so everywhere, later I saw the records on which she behaved much more restrained. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. I stood in the front row, face to face with the police. Someone in our row began to pull back the fence. At the same time, the police ordered me to step back. But I wanted the fence to stay in place, so I put my knee on it. However, other people standing next to me pulled him so hard that I fell backwards. During all this, the policeman began to beat me with a truncheon.

My arm was injured, and the next day it was swollen and bloodshot.

Also, I got sprayed in the face with pepper spray or something equally effective.

I was literally blind and deaf.

I left there and slowly wandered in the other direction, trying to come to my senses.

So the details of how the protesters originally got inside the Capitol are unknown to me.

- Was the police ready for the protests?

- When I came to the Capitol, there was only one barrier located on the steps of the building.

There were no broken barriers or anything like that, you could safely walk right up to the stairs of the Capitol.

And this fence, apparently, was not erected in case of protests, it protected the stage erected for the inauguration.

So it seems that the police did not prepare for the protests in any way, although they were known for several weeks, or even a month.

Protests outside the Capitol have been called for a long time.

It seems to me that a permit was even issued.

Yet the police seem to have been completely unprepared.

- Was there a provocation?

- I was not far from the place where people broke into the building. At the very beginning, when I arrived there, a man came who broke the window with a hammer, after which he walked away - went down the steps and went somewhere else. Fifteen minutes later, he returned and knocked off all the fragments so that you could get inside without hindrance. And then he showed us with signs to come in. I don't know who it was or what organization it belonged to. I do not know whether he was on the side of the authorities, whether he belonged to Antifa, the BLM movement or some other group. But judging by his actions, I can say that he was hardly in tune with the protesters.

Again, I have a video that I recorded back then.

It shows that the person in front of me shook his head, clearly not approving of what was happening.

And no one came up to him, no one climbed through that window.

When people nevertheless entered, the door was opened from the inside.

They were invited inside, asked to show respect and not harm either property or people.

• Reuters

• © Mike Theiler

- Have you witnessed the shooting?

- I can only tell you what I saw with my own eyes.

- Good.

- When people began to enter the Capitol, two blood-stained young men ran out, shouting that the girl had just been shot in the face.

This did not stop the line of people heading inside.

They continued to walk slowly forward, although there were compelling reasons to believe that there could be a bullet in the head.

- Did you find out about the protests from social networks?

- I don't use social media.

I can say I'm afraid of Google, Twitter, Facebook.

I've worked in this area, wrote code for such things, and ... such things should be banned.

What Google does ... They know more about you than you do.

This is true.

So I don’t touch them.

I don't use Google search, I don't use Google Maps, I don't use Google Translate.

They are not trustworthy.

- Do you think the protesters expected to be charged?

- No.

BLM protests have been going on for a year.

They threw incendiary mixtures at courthouses, set fire to houses, and seized police stations and entire city districts.

Very few charges were ultimately upheld (by the court -

), and, in fact, the district prosecutors dropped most of the charges brought against them.

• AP

• © Kathy Willen

So the answer is no.

Anarchy seemed to reign in the United States, and the rule of law ceased to exist.

So no, I don't think most people ... There were a few people who threw something at the police, used pepper spray or bear spray against them, as I heard ... or something like that ... I think those people could have expected charges.

- Do you regret anything?

- My God, how sorry I am!

First of all, I wish I was rude ... No ... First of all, I promised one person to stay behind the crowd, but I didn't keep my promise.

This is the first thing I regret.

I regret being rude to the police.

There is something else, but I do not want to talk about it - I will use my right to remain silent.

- How did you end up on the FBI's most wanted list of people?

“They published a wanted list - it was a very long list with photos of wanted people.

It became known to me that I can appear on this list.

I looked and it looked like it really was me.

It said "an attack on a law enforcement officer."

I knew I hadn't attacked the police.

Also on russian.rt.com "Similar to the one that investigated the September 11 attacks": why does the US create a commission to investigate the storming of the Capitol

- Why did you leave the USA?

- I realized that I would not have enough money for a lawyer, since it is a very expensive pleasure.

My production was in Italy, so I planned a business trip.

At the airport, I was interrogated by the FBI and released.

They knew what I was doing and let me go.

Escape cannot be imputed here.

When I flew to Europe there was a lockdown, or rather, they introduced lockdowns.

Another business opportunity turned up for me - in Ukraine.

So I headed there.

- Why did you decide that you are not safe in Ukraine?

- When I was in Ukraine, a number of events took place, as a result of which my location was revealed.

- By whom?

- Presumably the FBI.

The standard procedure for extradition of a wanted offender is a letter rogatory or request under a mutual legal assistance treaty.

These are bureaucratic processes that take at least several months, and sometimes more than a year.

But (in my case -

) everything took two weeks.

Which tells me that the question was political.

There is no reason to believe that they followed legal procedures to investigate my situation in Ukraine.

In addition, a meeting between Biden and Zelensky was soon to take place.

Everything indicated that I was wanted for political reasons.

I knew that other defendants in the riot were being held in solitary confinement.

About the beatings that took place.

So I was on edge and on my guard.

I learned that some forces of the Kiev police were looking for me.

I suppose this is about the special forces, but for sure I do not know anything.

So I decided to move to another city.

But when I went to the car, some people were following me.

So I began to twist and realized that I was really being watched.

Then I seemed to continue going about my business and just left.

Literally - on foot.

Taking nothing but what was on me.

I only had a certain amount of money.

(And I knew that there was -

) only a few states that could protect me from the United States.

- How did you get out of the country?

“I knew I couldn't cross the border. I will not be able to go through an ordinary border checkpoint, because I will be detained and given to the Americans as a gift for the upcoming summit (Biden and Zelensky -

). I began to look on the map where it would be best to cross the border. I'm not a smuggler at all and I have no idea how to do something like that. And so I found a forest on the map. For obvious reasons, Google maps are not very high resolution around the borders. So I didn't really understand what would actually be there, but it was a forest. I feel pretty good in the woods, at least it was in America. I trust nature much more than people. I understand nature. It is practically explicable using mathematics.

But when I got there, it turned out to be a real swamp, not a forest.

I imagined a pine forest with some rare ravines through which it would be possible to get over.

But it was a swamp with snakes, wild boars and so many spiders that it’s impossible to imagine.

And also with quicksand - I fell into one like this and I had to ... Before that, I had never seen quicksand.

- Me too.

- Yes.

At least I guess it was quicksand.

I'm not an expert in this matter, and I've never seen them, but you put one foot - and it starts to go underground, put the second in an attempt to stretch the first - but instead it also starts to sink, as a result you literally drown.

In general, there I crossed the border, and it turned out to be a much bigger adventure than I expected.

- What happened when you managed to get to Belarus?

- I surrendered to the authorities.

The first couple of days I was placed in a temporary detention center.

It's okay for someone to cross the border illegally.

Then I was questioned several times.

Again, how could it be otherwise, because I am an American - this cannot but be alarming.

But, as I said, after a couple of days they accepted my request and transferred to where we are now.

At the moment I ... I am not familiar with the Belarusian legislation, so I don’t know how exactly everything works.

As far as I understand, I now have a trial period or a period of paperwork - something like that.

- How did you end up on the side of the Republicans?

- I am registered as a Democrat.

- Yes?

- I'm not a Republican.

- Clear.

- But, if I registered again, maybe I would register as a Republican.

When

only a few weeks remained

until election day (2016 -

), a stream of hatred fell on Trump.

They called him crazy, crazy - whoever they called him.

I was so disagreeable with this approach that in 2016 I voted for Trump.

Rather, in protest against the media, actors, politicians - everyone who was without exception against Trump.

This seemed unfounded to me.

He is a rational person who has been widely known to the American public since the eighties.

And in 2020, I already voted sincerely, because Trump became the first president since Jimmy Carter who did not start a war abroad.

Also on russian.rt.com "It is physically dangerous to represent the conservative media in the US": a journalist on the attack of BLM activists

All these accusations of "Russian connections" were heard, but it was a complete invention of a certain group of people.

And to this day, most Democrats believe this to be true.

Although it is well known that this is not so, that all this is a lie, an invention.

I don’t understand why we now consider Russia our enemy.

With regard to cultural values ​​and the system of government, Russia is much closer to us than, say, Saudi Arabia.

- Is it difficult to be a Trump supporter in California?

Trump supporters in California I know don't get together.

Nobody really applies to this account.

Sometimes someone comes to you and in secret, quietly, says that they also do not understand what is happening.

Yes, everything must be kept secret.

Otherwise, you will be ostracized in society.

Some agree with me, but they keep their mouths shut, because you can't say that in California.

But I am politically incorrect.

I don't like political correctness and will stand up for my ideals loudly and proudly, even if it goes beyond the Overton Window.

And this gave rise to a lot of hatred (addressed to me -

).

They stopped inviting me to dinners, and almost all the festivities.