'WalkAway' Founder Reignites Movement With First Rally in Two Years
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. His crime, in his words? Standing on the Capitol steps—a restricted area. The technical charges: impeding a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, knowingly entering and remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority and/or engaging in disorderly conduct within proximity to a restricted building to impede official functions, and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress. Phew.
Straka is a self-described former liberal who in 2019 founded the viral #WalkAway campaign to encourage people to—you guessed it—walk away from the Democrat party. According to its website, the movement has over one million followers on social media, and 10,000-plus written and video testimonials from people who changed their views. (RedState’s Kira Davis told her own such story.)
Straka was energetic as he spoke in front of a rowdy crowd in front of 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. Armed agents showed up at his door, handcuffed him, issued a search warrant, started taking his belongings, and then marched him off to jail. He continued:
I spent two-and-a-half days in a jail cell, with no knowledge other than fact that I was facing, as they told me, multiple felony charges for the eight minutes that I stood on the east side of the Capitol steps. I did not go inside the Capitol on January 6, I was never accused of going inside the Capitol January 6, in fact the DOJ made it quite clear that they 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.
This man was literally persecuted by our government, and now he is back. God bless him.
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. His crime, in his words? Standing on the Capitol steps—a restricted area. The technical charges: impeding a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, knowingly entering and remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority and/or engaging in disorderly conduct within proximity to a restricted building to impede official functions, and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress. Phew.
Straka is a self-described former liberal who in 2019 founded the viral #WalkAway campaign to encourage people to—you guessed it—walk away from the Democrat party. According to its website, the movement has over one million followers on social media, and 10,000-plus written and video testimonials from people who changed their views. (RedState’s Kira Davis told her own such story.)
Straka was energetic as he spoke in front of a rowdy crowd in front of 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. Armed agents showed up at his door, handcuffed him, issued a search warrant, started taking his belongings, and then marched him off to jail. He continued:
I spent two-and-a-half days in a jail cell, with no knowledge other than fact that I was facing, as they told me, multiple felony charges for the eight minutes that I stood on the east side of the Capitol steps. I did not go inside the Capitol on January 6, I was never accused of going inside the Capitol January 6, in fact the DOJ made it quite clear that they 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.
This man was literally persecuted by our government, and now he is back. God bless him.