The first few weeks of 2021 have been a lesson in white privilege for anyone who’d still like to deny its existence in America. We saw a mass of domestic terrorists take over the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, threatening to assassinate elected officials and even trampling to death some of their own fellow MAGA members, all because they were mad that other (read: non-white) Americans’ votes count when it comes to deciding who the president is. After the attack, most of them went right back to their white-collar jobs and the businesses they owned, with no fear of repercussions for their actions.
Some of the attackers have come out as completely unrepentant, even though five people—including a police officer—were killed in the insurrection. Now we’re watching as the insurrectionists push to see just how much white privilege will allow them to get away with in America’s so-called justice system.
Enter Jenny Cudd, owner of a flower shop in Midland, Texas called Becky’s Flowers (I know, I know, too easy). Cudd is now facing misdemeanor charges for entering restricted grounds as well as violent entry or disorderly conduct for her role in the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to the Washington Post.
Cudd is the woman who posted a video recorded inside the Capitol during the insurrection, bragging about how she and her fellow “patriots” (read: terrorists) broke down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office door.
Cudd is also the woman who is now asking a federal judge to allow her to travel to Mexico in the next couple of weeks for a “pre-planned and prepaid retreat” in the Riviera Maya—a region of the country known for its all-inclusive resorts.
“This is a work-related bonding retreat for employees and their spouses,” the motion submitted by Cudd’s lawyer on Monday reads.
Though several media reports initially said Cudd’s request to go on vacation had been approved, her motion has not yet been signed off by a judge.
But the request itself is evidence of Cudd’s complete confidence that she did nothing wrong, much less anything she should be punished for. She said as much in an interview with News West9 two days after participating in the insurrection.
“I would do it again in a heartbeat because I did not break any laws. I would absolutely do it again,” Cudd said.
During that interview, Cudd also claimed that the damage at the Capitol was caused by phantom antifa members who had “infiltrated” the hundreds of Trump supporters, like herself, who travelled to D.C. on Jan. 6 to carry out an insurrection. That story doesn’t quite match up with her smugly saying on camera, “We did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door,” while in the Capitol herself.
It remains to be seen if Cudd’s request to take some sunny days off to relax in Mexico, after joining a plot to disrupt America’s democracy, will be successful. She is currently on pretrial release, as are a number of the other insurrectionists charged in the Capitol attack according to Insider. Those who’ve been released by the courts include Rendall Brock Jr., an Air Force veteran who prosecutors said meant to “take hostages” during the insurrection, and Mark Jefferson Leffingwell, who is charged with assaulting a federal officer for punching a Capitol cop during the break-in.