A right-wing activist known for his unwavering support for former President Donald Trump and for urging Democrats to walk away from their party has been arrested for participating in the Capitol insurrection. Brandon Straka, 43, has been charged with several crimes, including impeding a law enforcement officer during civil disorder and engaging in disorderly conduct with the intent to disturb a hearing before Congress, for his role in the Jan. 6 siege. The ex-New York City hairstylist and self-described “former liberal” is best known for starting the “WalkAway Campaign,” which urged liberal voters to leave the Democratic Party. Earlier this month, Straka announced Facebook had removed the campaign’s page, which had over half a million followers. In June, Straka also made national headlines after he was banned from American Airlines for refusing to wear a mask on a flight to Dallas amid the coronavirus pandemic. In a criminal complaint unsealed Monday, prosecutors state Straka posted several photos and videos during and after the riots. The court documents say investigators were clued into Straka’s involvement when a tipster indicated he had posted a video on Twitter on Jan. 6 in which the activist shouted, “Go, Go!” near the entrance of the Capitol.
“Also—be embarrassed & hide if you need to- but I was there. It was not Antifa at the Capitol. It was freedom-loving Patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our Republic because literally, nobody cares about them. Everyone else can denounce them. I will not,” Straka also wrote in a Jan. 6 tweet. Prosecutors allege that Straka took multiple videos during and after the riots. In one Jan. 7 video, the activist admits, “Yesterday, a lot of us got up very, very early. We went to this event in which Donald Trump spoke. The plan was always to go to the Capitol. We were going to march from that event…to the Capitol, and there was going to be another rally. I was one of the speakers slated to speak at the Capitol.” Straka says that as he was walking to the Capitol, he’d learned “patriots had entered” it. “Wow, so they’re going to basically storm and try to get into the chamber so that they can demand that we get the investigation that we want,” he says in the Jan. 7 video, according to the complaint. Straka then claimed he saw “bursts of teargas coming out of the doors.”
via daily beast: Right-Wing Activist Banned From Airline for Not Wearing Mask Is Charged in Capitol Riots