Demonstrators who were arrested and charged for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, claimed a spot at the Conservative Political Action Conference and railed against federal prosecutors, Republican lawmakers and CPAC itself for mistreating them.
They said they have been shut out of the banking system, de-platformed from social media, blacklisted from flying on commercial airlines — wrecked financially and socially — and, worse of all, forgotten by most conservative leaders in Washington.
At a panel discussion titled “True Stories of January 6: The Prosecuted Speak,” they described a saga of persecution and abandonment:
• They were ignored or ghosted by Republican lawmakers who once claimed to champion their cause.
• They were left out of the equation when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turned over Capitol surveillance video from Jan. 6 to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, despite promises to make the video available to the public.
• And they were relegated to a sideshow in a cramped meeting room rather than featured on the main stage at CPAC.
The panel was hosted by Brandon Straka, a self-described former liberal Democrat who publicly left the party and founded the #WALKAWAY Campaign. He also was arrested at his residence and charged by federal authorities after he attended the rally that turned into a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mr. Straka was joined by four fellow Jan. 6 defendants who described similar experiences. Another panelist, Geri Perna, is the aunt of a Jan. 6 defendant who committed suicide rather than face jail time as an accused terrorist.
None of the panelists were charged with a crime related to violence, vandalism, theft or destruction of property, according to Mr. Straka.
Over 950 people have been arrested so far in connection with the Jan. 6 riot, and the FBI is still searching for people they think committed crimes at the Capitol that day.
The lasting imprint of that day has forged a bond among those who attended the rally, entered the Capitol and later were arrested and charged. Many have now banded together to help others caught in the wheels of J6 justice.
Mr. Straka said the mistreatment they suffer has extended to CPAC this year.
He said that while he participated in at least four previous CPAC events, usually as a speaker on the main stage, the organizers did not ask him to speak this year.
Mr. Straka recalled how things got heated at the CPAC Dallas, where he was invited to join a panel on the main stage with Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona and former Trump administration official Kash Patel.
“I openly confronted Congressman Andy Biggs for 20 minutes about what Republicans in Congress are doing to help us,” Mr. Straka said. “He didn’t have very many answers. I wasn’t invited to participate in this CPAC. I paid for this panel. I paid for this room right now.
The Washington Times reached out to CPAC organizers for comment but did not hear back.
Ms. Perna described how her nephew, Matthew Perna, took his own life after being told by federal authorities that a terrorism enhancement would add 5 to 6 years of jail time to his initial year-long sentence for involvement in the Jan. 6 riot.
“It was too much for my nephew to handle, and that Friday evening, Feb. 25 of last year, he hanged himself in his garage. Our family has never been the same since,” she said. “Our government has never apologized. Although there are several Congress people who know about his case now, not one of them wanted to talk to us when we were going through this. I can’t tell you how many we reached out to emails, phone calls.”
She added, “Also our local representative reached out to people that weren’t even from our state of Pennsylvania, not one phone call was returned.”
The group also expressed disappointment with Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, who released over 42,000 hours of Capitol security footage from Jan. 6 exclusively to Mr. Carlson.
“We talked about the lack of people in Congress who want to help us. It’s very frustrating to have no problem fundraising off of our name,” said former West Virginia lawmaker Derrick Evans, who attended the Jan. 6 rally at the Capitol. “Kevin McCarthy ran to get the speakership saying he was going to release the J6 tapes to the public.”
Mr. Evans said that while he was a fan of Mr. Carlson’s show, he felt it was important for the video to be available to everyone since Jan. 6 defendants are still sitting in pretrial solitary confinement and could potentially use it for their defense.
“It’s frustrating that Kevin McCarthy is sending emails and [raising] money,” Mr. Evans said. “He wants to send the tapes to Tucker Carlson, but these guys don’t want to help the Jan. 6 political prisoners, so that is very frustrating to me.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican, recently told reporters that the footage would soon be available to all news outlets.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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