Earlier this month, the Christian nationalist organization Liberty Counsel held a fundraising gala called "A New Birth of Freedom" at which Rep. Byron Donalds, who is now running for governor in Florida, delivered the keynote address.
Hosted by Mat Staver, the anti-LGBTQ and anti-vax right-wing conspiracy theorist who founded and runs Liberty Counsel, the event also presented a "Defender of Freedom" award to John Strand, a model and right-wing activist who was sentenced to more than two years in prison for his actions during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, only to be pardoned by President Donald Trump upon his return to office.
Strand was convicted of illegally entering the Capitol and refusing to leave. As Mother Jones reported, he openly bragged his actions:
Especially damning for Strand was a pile of evidence taken from his phone, including text messages to his family members, touting his storming of the Capitol. In the months before the riot, Strand had been promoting the “stop the steal” movement questioning the results of the 2020 election. He’d sent numerous texts and tweets talking about the coming “civil war.” Shortly after he left the Capitol, he sent a text declaring, “We stormed the Capitol. It was insane.” He wrote message to his brother saying, “Simone and I were with the first dozen patriots to breach the Capitol. We literally made history.” In another text, he wrote, “I don’t think the US Capitol building has been stormed and breached like that and it caused Pence to delay the certification,” which, he concluded, was a historic event.
In presenting the award to Strand, Staver and his wife Anita insisted that Strand had "committed no crime" and was, in fact, a "true patriot" who was persecuted and became a "political prisoner."
"May God use this unspeakable experience to bring a new birth of freedom that will last for generations," declared Anita Staver, in presenting the award.
Strand, likewise, presented himself as a heroic "political hostage" who had done nothing wrong.
"I'm so honored by that award that says Defender of Liberty, because there's nothing greater I could give my life to than that defense," Strand said during his remarks. "It's not every day that you find yourself on the FBI's most wanted list. It's not every day that your front door is pulverized by a battering ram, that your body is assaulted by jack- booted thugs with machine guns, and that your life is systematically disparaged, dismantled and destroyed. That's what the American government did to me and over 1,500 others."
"But it's also not every day that you get a chance to stand for the truth at a moment when few others will do that," he continued. "And it's certainly not every day that you get the opportunity to serve your country on deployment as a political hostage within your own country; a political hostage of a very corrupt government regime. So, I'm very grateful that God gave me the opportunity to suffer for something great."
