Editor’s Note: SE Cupp is a CNN political commentator. The views expressed in this commentary are solely hers. View more opinion articles on CNN.
Before you plan an insurrection, it’s a good idea to clear your calendar for the weeks after. Maybe make arrangements for someone to water your plants, feed the dog and pay your bills – in case that, you know, there are consequences.
Apparently, no one told that to Jenny Cudd, a Texas woman charged with knowingly entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds for her alleged role in the Capitol riots on January 6.
In a Facebook video later she was unrepentant, saying, “F— yes, I am proud of my actions, I f—ing charged the Capitol today with patriots today. Hell, yes, I am proud of my actions,” according to court documents cited in CNN reporting. Two days later in an interview with local news, according to court documents, she said, “I would absolutely do it again.”
That probably won’t help her in the long run, but while she awaits her trial, unashamed and apparently unbothered by the charges against her (her lawyer said she plans to plead not guilty), she’s written to a federal judge asking for permission to travel to Riviera Maya, Mexico, for a four-day retreat she had planned before the riots.
Because after you attempt to overthrow the government, you’re surely going to want a little R&R.
Of course, it’s an absurd request, but it highlights the kind of untethered, hypocritical and, quite obviously, privileged mindset of the largely White mob that went looking for vengeance on January 6.
Amidst their claims of voter oppression, their complaints that they have been silenced (and what about liberals who riot?); amidst their avowals of love for the police, their celebration of law and order and fetishization of their own victimhood, MAGA-world’s incongruous reality is an idiotic inversion of everything they say they believe in.
We saw that play out on January 6 when they were the ones trying to steal an election, when they were the ones rioting and looting, when they were the ones attacking police officers, when they were the ones breaking the law and victimizing lawmakers and Capitol staff.
It goes without saying that if a group of largely Black or Brown rioters did what they did, many more would have been arrested – and worse – and these pitchfork-wielding “patriots” would be burning down our cities in protest.
But never mind that, can I still go to Mexico on vacation?
It’s a good bet Jacob Chansley – the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” who was notoriously photographed after having breached the Capitol carrying a spear and wearing a coyote and buffalo horn headdress – didn’t think too much about his actions that day either.
The Arizona man was arrested three days later and charged with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building and demonstrating in a Capitol building.
On January 6, he made it as far as the Senate chamber. Federal authorities say he left a threatening note for former Vice President Mike Pence saying, “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.” He later told the FBI he did not mean the note as a threat but said the ice President was a “child-trafficking traitor.”
He’s been awaiting his trial in jail and has just been granted a special request after filing an emergency motion this week – it seems he requires a diet of organic food.
Citing his belief in Shamanism, Chansley’s refused to eat, claiming food with unnatural chemicals “would act as an ‘object intrusion’ onto his body and cause serious illness.”
Shamanism is reportedly recognized by the federal government as a faith, and dietary exceptions in prison are made frequently on the basis of faith, which is likely why the judge granted it.
But it’s hard to square Chansley’s faith – one that’s ostensibly based on healing – with his alleged actions on January 6. He won’t ingest “chemicals, preservatives, and GMOs that would compromise the integrity of his faith,” but he’ll break into a federal building, apparently threaten the Vice President and participate in endangering the lives of lawmakers and Capitol police?
It’s a good assumption that most of the Trump supporters, QAnon adherents, Proud Boys and other far-right extremist groups didn’t plan on any consequences for breaking into a federal building, attacking Capitol police, stealing from Congressional offices and forcing lawmakers into hiding for their lives.
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That’s because in their half-baked, conspiracy-fueled, Trump-addled frenzy, they figured whatever they did was justified because Trump wanted them to fight the election results, or at least that Trump would pardon them when he was “rightly” restored to the presidency. Or, that Q was coming to save them.
Of course, much like the rest of their motivations, this was based on utter nonsense.
Detached from reality, it’s not hard to see why asking for organic meals and that planned vacation after invading the Capitol seems totally reasonable. Turns out, you might just get your wish.
But back in the real world, the one where Trump lost, QAnon is made up, and “economic insecurity” isn’t a viable mask for extremism, the rioters might just have to face real consequences. In a fair and just world, anyway, they would.
