Capitol suspect pushes for trip
Before storming the U.S. Capitol alongside other supporters of former President Donald Trump in what she later described as “the new revolution,” Jenny Cudd had been planning a four-day trip to Mexico.
Now the Midland florist is facing federal charges, one of more than 100 people arrested by the FBI in a sweeping investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection. But she still wants her vacation.
In a motion filed Monday in federal court, Cudd’s attorney asked a judge to let her travel this month to Riviera Maya with employees of her flower shop. The motion noted that the trip to Mexico was prepaid.
“This is a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses,” wrote attorney Farheena Siddiqui, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Ms. Cudd has appeared at her scheduled court appearance, remains in constant contact with her attorney and has remained in contact with pretrial probation, as ordered.”
A onetime mayoral candidate and anti-masker, Cudd gained notoriety for a Facebook livestream in which she boasted about her involvement in the attack.
Draped in the Trump flag she’d worn inside the Rotunda and Statuary Hall, she announced, “We did break down … Nancy Pelosi’s office door.” Cudd said she “charged the Capitol today with patriots,” adding, “Hell yes, I am proud of my actions.”
Two days later, she gave an interview to local TV station NewsWest9. In the 14minute video, she said people who had turned her in to the FBI and left negative reviews of her business were trying to “cancel me because I stood up for what it is that I believe in.” The backlash, she added, “is 100 percent cancel culture.”
Cudd insisted that she did not destroy anything or go into any offices. Instead, she said, she used the term “we” to refer to “we the patriots.” She said she had walked through an open door after barricades were broken down. And although the storming of the Capitol left a police officer and four others dead, she continued to defend it.
Her arrest came the next week. In a Jan. 12 federal complaint, the FBI cited Cudd’s statements on social media and in the TV interview. She was charged with misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining on restricted grounds and disorderly conduct or violent entry and released on her own recognizance.