Brandon Straka, the founder of the “Walk Away” pro-Trump social media campaign aimed at disillusioning Democrats with their party, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with his involvement with the Capitol insurrection of January 6.
Prosecutors dropped a felony count of impeding police during civil disorder. Straka’s plea deal requires him to cooperate by turning over social media and other evidence and to participate in a law enforcement interview.
On January 6, the day a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 election had been stolen, Straka was not only at the Capitol, according to video provided by a witness, he encouraged protesters to take a shield away from a police officer.
“Take it! Take it!” Straka can be heard shouting on the video in which he also encouraged others to enter the Capitol by yelling, “Go! Go!”
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“The crowd successfully pulled the shield away from the officer as the officer appeared to be trying to move back toward the entrance of the building. The officer then went back into the crowd to get his shield back. Several people pulled on the shield as the officer grabbed it, thus pulling the officer deeper into the crowd,” according to the court documents.
Straka was a featured speaker at the “Stop the Steal” rally that took place ahead of the insurrection. He was also active on Twitter during the attack, at one point tweeting that he had inhaled tear gas used by police officers to disperse the crowd.
Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.
