Unfair Park from p4 to retreat, but more patriots pushed for- ward, and they’re taking back our house. They’ve got the giant flag up on the upper terrace up there. No more fooling around! Jalise and I gotta go back to the hotel and try to recoup and change, get dry clothes on. Make America great again! Freedom!” If that post had been a mistake on Mid- dleton’s part, his follow-up comments didn’t do much to help. Take, for instance, his ad- mission that he and Jalise “were in the thick of it.” Or his comment that he had been “gassed” “pepper sprayed” and “clubbed.” In one comment, he said they had not entered the Capitol, but they had been “on the steps” outside the building. The next morning, he afforded his Facebook friends a lengthy ex- planation. “If we intended to start a riot, there wouldn’t be a building left, just say- ing,” he said, adding that “not one building is burned, not one store looted, not one police car set on fire!” (The architect of the Capitol has said the rioters damaged the building to the tune of $1.5 million.) Nor have Jalise’s Facebook posts ap- peared to do the Middletons’ case any fa- vors. Shortly after 3:30 p.m. on the day of the riot, she wrote, “We fought the cops to get in the Capital [sic] and got pepper sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!” Twelve minutes later, she bragged that they had been “the first group to storm” the Capitol. Two minutes after that post, she clarified that they had not entered the build- ing, explaining they “had to retreat” because of tear gas and pepper spray but that “all our fellow patriots got in.” The next day, she cel- ebrated that “patriots surged, just to show strength,” recycling a now widespread – and false – claim that “Antifa” had committed the vandalism to make Trump supporters “look bad.” much of the state with the True Texas Proj- ect, a rightwing nonprofit that promotes ul- traconservative candidates, to tell his version of the Jan. 6 events. With his wife of- ten joining him, he’s spoke about his role in the unrest to audiences gathered in churches and bars, in places dotting the map from Lewisville to Stephenville, several of which are far outside the district in which he hopes to represent in the Legislature. Except for an early campaign Zoom in- S 6 terview on WFAA, he initially shunned con- ventional media requests. When his campaign first broke in the news, he told the Washington Post and the Observer to “meet him on the campaign trail,” but at in-person events, he was hesitant to speak. He agreed to speak to the Observer about his campaign but not the blow-by-blow details of Jan. 6. Meanwhile, he also appeared on far-right podcasts like The Michael Berry Show, a pro- gram on which Middleton claimed Jan. 6 was “absolutely nonviolent.” (When initially approached at one of his campaign events, he suggested that the Observer first watch Patriot Purge, a documentary by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that suggests the Capi- tol rioters are political prisoners.) Meanwhile, he’s used his Facebook cam- ** ince he announced his candidacy, Middleton has attended a handful of campaign-related events and toured paign page to squabble with critics who have accused him of treason and to rail against the Biden administration, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other political foes. He shares memes prolifically, including one he posted that includes a quote by Eve Ensler: “An activist is someone who cannot but fight for something,” it reads, in part. (Ensler, the playwright behind The Vagina Monologues, has endorsed progressive candidates like Bernie Sanders in the past and blasted Trump as a “self- confessed sexual assaulter” and the “predator- in-chief.”) His bid for office hasn’t been easy. His opponent is better funded, and because Mid- dleton opposes PAC cash in politics, he’s struggled to drum up financial support. On a shoestring budget, mailers, robocalls, yard signs and roadside banners were initially out of the question. On some days, because the district is so large, he could drive around four hours each way to an event. Early on, he spent around $1,000 of his own money in fuel costs alone. But by early February, he’d received self to ride it as far right as it will veer, but the roadblocks on his path to the Texas House aren’t insignificant. First, he’ll need to beat out his primary opponents, including Spiller. Spiller, an attorney from Jacksboro, first “It’s really an unprecedented and incredible situation.” - Heidi Beirich came to office after winning a special elec- tion in March 2021 and now sits on the Texas House Republican Caucus Policy Committee. He isn’t that wor- ried about any of his chal- lengers, Middleton included. That’s partly because Middleton isn’t the only Dis- trict 68 GOP pri- mary candidate who’s facing fel- ony charges. In December, po- lice charged their opponent Craig Carter with aggra- vated assault with a deadly weapon. The arrest affidavit says he attempted to fire a fire- arm at his estranged wife’s male friend, allegations Carter denies. But more important, Spiller doubts enough donations to cover his often-lengthy travel, and he thought the campaign was go- ing well. “As a political newcomer, it’s very hard to get money,” he said, adding later: “But beyond that, I look at it as God got me into this, so it’s up to him.” The way he saw it, the Republican Party had largely failed Texas, and incumbent state Rep. David Spiller and candidates like him were beholden to people bankrolling their campaigns. “Once they do get an en- dorsement like that and the money that comes with it, now they have him in their pocket,” he said. Middleton would rather answer directly to his potential constituents, a fact that, he says, speaks to the authentic- ity of his conservative credentials. “Ultimately, it’s going to be the voters of District 68 that would send me to Austin, and that’s who I want to be beholden to,” he added. “I don’t want the pressure of some political action committee or some big- money donor telling me, Hey, I gave you X amount, [and] I expect your allegiance on this or that issue.” ** tively minor misdemeanors, others hefty felonies – stemming from the events that rattled the nation on Jan. 6. Last month, the feds charged Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and 10 fellow militiamen with sedi- tious conspiracy, the most serious charges to date. Some have expressed regret over what they did at the Capitol. Some expressed re- gret and then backtracked on their apolo- gies. Many apparently don’t regret it at all. If there’s a shift taking place within the Texas GOP, Middleton has positioned him- A round the country, federal authori- ties have hit more than 760 people with various charges – some rela- there’s much to question when it comes to his conservative credentials, no matter how much Middleton calls him a Republican in Name Only. He’s racking up endorsements, and the Young Republicans of Texas backed him and even awarded him the No. 14 rank- ing in the state House. “So, I wouldn’t con- sider me a RINO,” Spiller said. “He doesn’t ever say that when I’m in the room, but I’ve heard him say that a couple other places.” Whether Middleton’s Capitol riot charges will sour conservative voters’ opinion of him is hard to say, but some polls suggest they might not be as big a problem for the candi- date as you might expect. A month after the insurrection, nearly one third of Republicans in Texas said they supported the storming of the Capitol, according to a study conducted by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs. In May, another study found that 74% of Republicans around the country thought “too much [was] being made of the Capitol insurrection,” the Houston Chronicle reported at the time. Immediately after the riot, Republican politicians the nation over condemned the violence. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called the raid a “violent terrorist attack,” but it’s a wonder what a difference a year can make. In Janu- ary, Cruz appeared on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s program and apologized for his “sloppy” word choice. A month later, the Republican National Committee re- buked U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republi- can from Illinois, and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, for participat- ing in a congressional investigation into the attack. The RNC described the probe as “persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” (The RNC has since disputed the obvious interpreta- tion of that statement.) Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League recently sounded the alarm on more than 100 “problematic political candidates” run- ning as Republicans nationwide. Still, Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, says the ac- cusations won’t exactly help Middleton in his bid for the state Legislature. “Even in this sort of heated environment, where many Republicans will say to a pollster that they don’t consider Jan. 6 that big of a deal, that they think Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ has merit, that’s something you say to a pollster,” Jillson said. “Many of them don’t believe it in their heart of hearts. They believe it for partisan pur- poses, but they don’t believe it as a matter of fact.” Other observers see it differently. Mike German, a former FBI special agent and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, wasn’t surprised that the right-wing narra- tive around Jan. 6 has shifted as radically as it has swiftly. “They were given the impres- sion that their violence was authorized by the government, not just authorized by the rhetoric of the president, but that they could commit that violence in front of police offi- cers and not get arrested,” he said. One of the problems, German explained, is that both law enforcement and critics tend to view the Capitol riot as the events of a sin- gle day rather than another link in the far right’s decades-long history of putting the federal government in its crosshairs. “Be- cause the Republican narrative has shifted to this being a heroic day rather than a day of broad criminality, my concern is that a lot of people charged with more minor conduct will wear it as a badge of honor,” he added. Middleton’s campaign continues to plod forward, badge of honor and all. In January, he attended a fundraiser in Farmers Branch to raise money for the Patriots for America Militia, an armed group that has been con- ducting patrols on the U.S.-Mexico border. “They’re doing the Lord’s work down there,” he said, arguing that the group was different from the antigovernment militia outfits around the country. “I’m very good friends with a lot of them,” he added, “and if I wasn’t going through this federal stuff, I’d be right down there because what they’re doing is worthy work that the state’s not do- ing.” ** O n the evening of Feb. 6, Middleton got what might have been his big- gest break to date: He scored a place as an opening act for gubernatorial candi- date Allen West, the former chairman of the Texas GOP. As the seats filled up, Middleton waited around the entrance, greeting new- comers, shaking their hands and trying out a few different pitches. The Cooke County Conservatives had organized the gathering, and more than 100 people had packed into the banquet room at the Lake Kiowa Lodge, which sits in a gated community that runs along the waterfront. In the crowd, most dressed casually. Some wore cowboy hats or baseball caps. Middleton wore a large coat without a tie, blue jeans and boots. “I’m Mark Middle- ton, and I’m running for Texas House Dis- trict 68,” he told one arrival. “And I’m a true conservative.” When the next person came in, he adjusted his introduction a touch. “I’m Mark Middleton,” he repeated and then added, “and I’m the only true conservative running for Texas House District 68.” That night, Middleton spoke >> p8 FEBRUARY 24-MARCH 2, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com
