Texan charged in Capitol riot can go on Mexico trip

A federal judge on Friday granted permission for a West Texas flower shop owner charged in last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol to take a work-related four-day trip to Mexico.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden said in the order granting Jenny Cudd’s request for travel later this month that neither her pretrial services officer nor prosecutors opposed the request. He also noted that she had no criminal history and said there was no evidence she was a flight risk or posed a danger to others.

Cudd was initially charged last month with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct. She was released on a personal recognizance bond.

On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted her on those two charges and three additional charges: obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in the Capitol and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the building.

She was seen in a Facebook video during the U.S. Capitol riot saying, “We did break down” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s door. But Cudd, a former Midland mayoral candidate, later said that she didn’t personally go into Pelosi’s office or see people break the door and that when she said “we,” she meant all of the people who were at the Capitol. She said she didn’t do anything violent or destroy any property.

After the riot at the Capitol, Cudd’s Midland shop, Becky’s Flowers, was flooded with dozens of one-star reviews in which she was called a traitor and domestic terrorist, along with photos of her inside the Capitol.

In asking permission for travel, Cudd’s attorneys said the trip to Mexico’s Caribbean coast was for a “work-related bonding retreat” with her colleagues and their spouses. They said the trip was prepaid and planned before the Capitol riot.

On Jan. 6, a mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters broke into the Capitol to interrupt the electoral vote count. Five people died, including a Capitol police officer.