Brandon Straka

“	We are sending a message to the Democrats, we are not going away, you’ve got a problem!	„
	~ Brandon Straka during a Stop the Steal rally on January 5, 2021.

Brandon Straka (born December 16, 1976) is a conservative political activist from the United States and founder of the #WalkAway campaign, which encourages people to stop supporting the Democratic Party. He has also been described as an organiser for the Stop the Steal movement by various media outlets, and has supported Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

In 2021 Straka was arrested after video emerged of him participating in the 2021 United States Capitol storming. Prosecutors and the FBI allege that Straka shouted to rioters to enter the Capitol building and to remove an officer's riot shield, although he did not enter the building himself. In October 2021 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct.

Activities[edit]

Straka, a New York hairstylist, founded the #WalkAway campaign in 2018 to encourage liberals to leave the Democratic Party. He has claimed that he once supported the Democrats, but switched his support to the Republicans in 2018. The movement is set up as both a foundation and a political action committee. However, the movement has been alleged to be far less popular than Straka claims, with Straka using public domain images from Shutterstock and claiming they had left the Democratic Party.

During the run-up to the 2020 US election, Straka and the #WalkAway campaign organised rallies across the country in support of Republican candidate Donald Trump and the party. Several of these rallies were used to spread unfounded claims of voter fraud against Trump. Straka himself held a rally in Washington, D.C. on October 3.

Following Trump's defeat by Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Straka became more involved with the Stop the Steal movement as he attempted to overturn the election results in Trump's favour. On January 5, 2021, Straka spoke at a Stop the Steal rally organised by Trump, during which he referred to a "revolution" and called the audience "patriots".

The next day, Straka was among a huge mob of Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol building to try and prevent the election result being certified, resulting in five deaths. Videos of the attack show Straka urging rioters to take away a Capitol Police officer's riot shield, shouting "Take it away! Take it away from him!". Straka is also alleged to have shouted "We're going in" and "Go, go!" to attackers entering the Capitol.

On January 8, Facebook removed the #WalkAway campaign's Facebook page for incitement to violence and containing "hateful, threatening, or obscene" content. On January 25, Straka was arrested by the FBI in Nebraska and charged with impeding law enforcement and disorderly conduct.

Trivia[edit]

Straka is openly gay.
Straka has expressed support for QAnon by chanting their slogan “Where we go one, we go all”.