A conservative activist and convicted participant in the attack on the US Capitol is lashing out at liberals after receiving widespread mockery for his portrayal of the supposed suffering of his comrades at a right-wing gathering over the weekend.
Brandon Straka claimed in a tweet on Monday that elements of the media were trying to have him prosecuted after he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas over the weekend where he participated in a bizarre piece of performance art portraying himself as an imprisoned January 6 rioter.
“At CPAC I sat silently in a cell as a performance art piece to provoke a reaction about political division, human rights abuses & more. Right now, the left wing media is actively trying to use this art piece to have me further prosecuted,” he tweeted.
“The left now supports criminalizing art,” Mr Straka went on to claim.
It’s unclear from his tweet or related news stories whether any organisations or individuals are actually attempting to have him prosecuted over the display, just as it was unclear what supposed crime he would be accused of committing. Mr Straka was already sentenced to three years of probation in connection to his participation in the riot.
Over the weekend, he drew widespread attention and mockery on social media after appearing in the cage wearing an orange jumpsuit at the Texas event, where he spent some time in the exhibit pretending to weep as onlookers took pictures, prayed and, in some cases, threw money into the cell.
Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right conspiracy theory embracer and congresswoman who has criticised the prosecutions of participants in the January 6 attack, appeared at one point and pretended to comfort him and prayed with him in the cage.
His claim about being prosecuted comes as he has faced questions regarding why his sentence for crimes committed during January 6 was so much lighter in comparison to other defendants who have been charged for what Mr Straka was accused of doing — namely, cheering on and encouraging fellow attackers as they battled with police officers and attempted to strip away their equipment and weapons.
Justice Department officials have said in court filings that Mr Straka was “cooperative” in a number of interviews with investigators, suggesting that he may have assisted with the prosecution of others in riot with his own testimony. He eventually plead guilty to disorderly conduct, a charge far lighter than others have received.
