CPAC Texas Event Includes Performance Booth Where a Jan. 6 Rioter Cries in a Cell
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Laura Jedeed, Twitter (screenshot)
The Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas continued on Friday with speeches from the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Steve Bannon, but also included a bit of political performance art in the lobby.
While past CPAC’s made headlines for installations like a golden statue of Donald Trump, this event featured a man in an orange jumpsuit, wearing a MAGA hat, sitting in a fake jail cell pretending to cry.
The bit of performative theater was documented online by freelance journalist Laura Jedeed who wrote on Twitter, “Hello I would like to share with you the most astonishing thing I have ever seen.”
“At this CPAC booth you receive a silent disco headset that plays harrowing testimony from people arrested for participating in J6,” she continued, adding, “Instead of dancing, you stand around and watch this guy cry.”
Hello I would like to share with you the most astonishing thing I have ever seen
At this CPAC booth you receive a silent disco headset that plays harrowing testimony from people arrested for participating in J6
Instead of dancing, you stand around and watch this guy cry pic.twitter.com/cin6F5zDhz
— Laura Jedeed (@LauraJedeed) August 5, 2022
Jedeed noted that in the thirty-some minutes she watched the man he never broke character. In addition to weeping in various poses, the man identified by investigative reporter Jordan Fischer as Brandon Straka also tallied days on a chalkboard, which read, “Where is everyone?”
Straka, who founded the #WalkAway movement, reportedly gave information on other Jan. 6 rioters in order to receive a lesser sentence after his own arrest for illegally entering the Capitol.
Politico noted in July, 18 months after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol attempted to hault the certification of the 2020 presidential election, some 850 Capitol riot suspects have been arrested by the Department of Justice and 325 of them have pleaded guilty.
Many of the Jan. 6 defendants have recounted their actions on that day and apologized for trying to stop the peaceful transition of power, which has been a fundamental feature of U.S. democracy since George Washington.
Guy Reffitt, who was given the longest sentence yet for a Jan. 6 rioter last week, called himself “a fucking idiot” in court, and added he was “not thinking clearly” on Jan. 6 when he attempted to enter the Capitol armed with a firearm and zip ties.
“I clearly fucked up,” Reffitt said as he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. “I did want to definitely make an apology, multiple apologies really, and accept my responsibility because I do hate what I did.”
While many of the rioters have shown remorse for their actions, political leaders like Greene and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) have called Jan. 6 defendants “political prisoners” and downplayed the deadly riot.