For the first time in Oregon’s history, a lawmaker has been ejected from office. GOP state Rep. Mike Nearman was expelled by a 59-1 vote after video emerged showing he helped a far-right militia breach the State Capitol in December.
The expulsion had overwhelming bipartisan support. Only Nearman voted against the measure.
On December 21, 2020, a crowd gathered outside the Oregon Capitol building to protest its closure. Among the crowd were Trump supporters waving flags, far-right agitators sporting body armor, at least one man with a riffle, and people chanting “Arrest Kate Brown,” the state’s Democrat governor. Nearman intentionally left a door open, allowing at least 50 people to go inside. A confrontation with law enforcement ensued. Demonstrators used pepper spray on police. Six officers were injured and the building suffered thousands of dollars worth of damage.
But it was Nearman’s actions on December 16th that created momentum for his ouster. On that day, according to livestreamed video, Nearman coached a right-wing group on how to breach the Capitol. He distributed his cell phone number and said, “if you say ‘I am at the west entrance’ during a session in text to that number there, that somebody might exit that door while you’re standing there.”
Nearman played coy, insisting that the number he distributed wasn’t really his. It was.
He faces criminal misconduct charges.
“His actions were blatant and deliberate, and he has shown no remorse for jeopardizing the safety of every person in the Capitol that day,” Speaker Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said in a statement after a remorseless Nearman was pushed out of office.
The New York Times compares the bipartisan condemnation of Nearman to the tepid response of lawmakers in D.C. to the January 6 riots, noting “while Republicans in Congress have resisted major actions in the Capitol siege — recently rejecting a plan for an independent commission — G.O.P. lawmakers in Oregon coalesced in recent days around the idea that Mr. Nearman needed to go. Each of his colleagues joined in a letter this week calling for his resignation.”