On Saturday afternoon, #WalkAway movement founder Brandon Straka headlined a rally called “No Guts, No Glory” in Beverly Hills, California. The rally marked the movement’s first event, and Straka’s first public appearance since he was incarcerated and charged with a felony for his part in the January 6, 2021, Capitol protests. According to Straka, his crime was: Standing on the Capitol steps—a restricted area. Technical charges include impeding law enforcement officers during civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining on restricted ground without lawful authority, engaging in disorderly behavior within the vicinity of a restricted building in order to impede official functions and/or engaging with disorderly conduct in an attempt to disrupt a hearing before Congress. Phew.
It is beautiful. “I’m not giving up… they want to shut us up, but they cannot.: #WalkAway @RealWalkAway @BrandonStraka pic.twitter.com/kfTt4RLCQU
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) May 21, 2022
Straka is a self-described former liberal who in 2019 founded the viral #WalkAway campaign to encourage people to—you guessed it—Take a walk from the Democrat party. Its website states that the group has more than one million social media followers and over 10,000 written and recorded testimonials of people who have changed their minds. (RedState’s Kira Davis told her own such story.)
Straka was lively as he gave his speech in front of an enthusiastic crowd outside Beverly Hills City Hall. After speaking about how excited he was to be back after all this time —though admittedly battered and bruised by his ordeal—he went on to tell the story of his arrest after attending the January 6 protests at the Capitol. Armoured agents arrived at his doorstep, handcuffed and issued him a search warrant. They then began to take his possessions before he was marched off to jail. He continued:
I was held in jail for two and a half days, knowing nothing other than that they had told me that I faced multiple felonies because I was standing on the East side of Capitol Steps for eight minutes. The DOJ stated that I didn’t go into the Capitol Jan 6, and I wasn’t accused of it. You already knew I didn’t enter the building. They also made it quite clear that they knew that I didn’t engage in any violence, vandalism, theft, or destruction.
CNN tells an entirely different story. They claim Straka recorded himself telling the mob to “go go go” as they reached the Capitol, and telling rioters who were wrestling a shield away from a US Capitol Police officer to “take it, take it.”
Straka said that he wanted to assist a girl to move out of the crowd and was not trying to incite anyone. You can listen to his minute-by-minute, detailed breakdown here in this interview with syndicated talk radio and Fox News host Mark Levin, which includes Straka’s quite intense video of the episode. (You will need to scroll down a bit to the section “My Story.”)
Protesting on Capitol Steps is considered a crime. So is protesting in front of Supreme Court Justices’ houses—but while one is prosecuted, the other is not, as we’ve seen.
It’s a beautiful day today in Beverly Hills @BrandonStraka, @joshDenny, @roxannehoge, @shemekamichelleAnd the #WalkAway movement. Proud that I stand by Brandon and the other decent Americans who are being wrongly persecuted because of their partisan motives by our corrupt government pic.twitter.com/AWOUHkVhMq
— Nick Searcy, INT’L FILM & TV STAR SINCE 1776 (@yesnicksearcy) May 22, 2022
Straka pleaded guilty in October 2021 to disorderly conduct under immense pressure. He was given three years probation in January and a $5,000 fine.
He’s been quiet since his arrest on the advice of his lawyer, but now he’s back on center stage, and he’s full of energy. Is he able to recapture the viral momentum from his campaign? His prospects are good, but time will tell.
Additionally, the Actor-Director Nick Searcy (Gosnell Punishment, Capitol Punishment), Blaze Contributor was part of this event Shemeka MichelleComedy by Josh Denny. Writer Mikey Harlow. Culture commentator. Gothix, actress and LA County Board of Supervisors candidate (and this author’s wife) Roxanne Beckford Hoge, lawyer and CA assembly candidate Bill Essayli, actor and also assembly candidate Siaka Massaquoi, OANN anchor Dan Ball, and others.
Let’s close by sharing the original #WalkAway video.
About Post Author
