Editorial: Instead of redemption, Derrick Evans sees martyrdom

If you shoot at the king, you had better not miss, and Evans missed. He reported to a minimum-security federal prison last week to serve a three-month sentence.

On Monday, Defiance Press announced it had signed Evans to a contract to write a book about the Capitol riot and his subsequent prosecution.

“Since January 6th, my name has been slandered in any which sort of way you can think of and I can state with full confidence that I am merely one of many people affected by the extreme polarization of our country’s politics,” Evans said in a news release issued by Defiant Press. “I firmly believe that partnering with Defiance Press will allow me to share my story with the world, express my frustration with the current state of our country, and bring about true justice in hopes to build a better future for the next generation.”

Defiant Press said Evans will finish his manuscript while he serves out the remainder of his prison sentence.

Terms of the publishing deal were not released, so the public doesn’t know yet if Evans is being paid by Defiant Press to write the book or if he and Defiant Press are partnering on the project, where he pays money up front as a percentage of production and marketing costs in return for a higher percentage of royalties once the book is published.

In court, Evans was contrite and apologetic for his actions at the Capitol. Since then, he has been on the offensive, as his statement announcing his book shows. He has described himself as a political prisoner, and he used a recent social media post to announce he intends to run for office again after his sentence ends.

The Washington Post says this is a habit among people sentenced for their actions at the Capitol — repentant before the judge, defiant before their political peers.

Evans wants to tell his story in the court of public opinion. That’s his right. Maybe his book will rally people who believe he did nothing wrong at the Capitol. Or it will remind them that there are some lines you don’t cross, and the consequences stay with you a long, long time.

Before his death, former Alabama Gov. George Wallace (“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”) showed forth fruits of repentance and was accepted by those he once rejected, although the sting of his words remained. Will Evans follow that example, or will he dig deeper and deeper into his desire to be seen as a martyr?

It’s his decision.