Judge Allows Texas Florist Charged in Capitol Riot to Travel to Mexico for Retreat

A florist from Texas who is facing charges for participating in the riot at the Capitol last month can travel to Mexico later this month, a federal judge ruled Friday. Jenny Louise Cudd had gone viral earlier this week when some news reports incorrectly stated she had been given permission to visit Riviera Maya, Mexico for a retreat. At the time though she had only filed a request to get permission for travel. On Friday, Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted her request to attend the “work-related bonding retreat.”

In approving the request, McFadden said Cudd doesn’t have a criminal history and no one had suggested she was a flight risk nor that she could pose a danger to others. McFadden also pointed out that the prosecutors had not objected to Cudd’s request to travel. The judge did order Cudd to “provide her itinerary to her supervising Pretrial Services Officer and follow any other instructions provided by Pretrial Services.”

There is no question that Cudd, a flower shop owner who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Midland, Texas in 2019, was inside the Capitol at the time of the riot. She streamed a live video of herself inside the Capitol in which she says she “charged the Capitol today with patriots.” In the video she said that “we did break down Nancy Pelosi’s office door” and seemed happy with herself for participating in the insurrection. “Hell, yes, I am proud of my actions,” she said in the video.

Cudd also talked about her involvement with local media outlets. “I personally didn’t break anything,” Cudd told the Odessa American shortly after the riot. “I didn’t break down any doors. I didn’t do anything violent. No one that I saw had any weapons of any sort.” In a television interview, Cudd didn’t express regret, saying she’d “do it again in a heartbeat.” In the interview with the Odessa American, Cudd said she wasn’t worried about consequences to her actions “because I know I didn’t break the law.” Prosecutors apparently disagree with Cudd. At first she was charged with two misdemeanors but they later brought additional charges. A grand jury has indicted Cudd on five counts.

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