Sanford: Capitol rioter from Millington isn’t only one conned by persuader-in-chief
Otis Sanford
Otis Sanford is a political columnist, author and professor emeritus in Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis.
Ronald Sandlin once boasted on video that he never graduated from high school. He was kicked out for being “kind of a rough kid.”
So, of course, he never went to college. Which means he never really learned the value of critical thinking.
And yet, he claimed, he taught himself how to be a master of persuasion, a financial rainmaker and a top-tier world influencer who built a multi-million-dollar online marketing business that gave him an international lifestyle beyond his wildest dreams.
Was it all lies? Who knows? But Sandlin, who is described by federal authorities as a Millington resident, said something even more revealing in the 37-minute video he posted to YouTube in July 2018. It was a statement that perfectly explains his gullibility and why he is almost certainly heading to federal prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
“If you know how to market online, if you know how to persuade people to take action, to persuade people to change their minds, that’s raw power,” he said with bravado that would easily impress his persuader-in-chief.
Because Sandlin was not really talking about himself. Whether he knew it or not, he was describing to a tee the crown prince of persuasive con men, Donald J. Trump.
Sandlin — like thousands of others — was completely taken in by Trump’s ability to convince them that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. And the only way to right this egregious wrong was to storm the Capitol and stop the certification of the electoral college vote — by deadly force, if necessary.
Sandlin made national news last Friday, Sept. 30, when he pleaded guilty in a Washington, D.C., federal court to conspiracy charges for taking part in the Capitol insurrection.
Prosecutors say Sandlin, 35, and two companions were among the horde of rioters who broke into the Capitol through an upper west terrace door. They then pushed against officers who were guarding another door leading into the Rotunda.
At one point, Sandlin shouted at the officers, “You’re going to die, get out of the way,” before grabbing an officer’s helmet. He also was caught on video smoking marijuana while in the Capitol and stole a book from a Senate office desk.
Days before storming the Capitol, Sandlin posted his intention to join his two co-conspirators — who also have pleaded guilty — and countless other so-called “patriots” for what he described as “the boogaloo (on) Jan. 6.”
He also set up a GoFundMe account to con others out of contributions for his trip to the nation’s capital. “Who is going to Washington, D.C., on the 6th of January?” he posted on social media.
“I’m going to be there to show support for our president and to do my part to stop the steal and stand behind Trump when he decides to cross the rubicon. If you are a patriot, I believe it’s your duty to be there. I see it as my civic responsibility.”
Now, Sandlin faces a Dec. 9 sentencing date and could get up to 28 years in federal prison. His connections to Greater Memphis are tenuous at best. Although the Justice Department describes him as a Millington resident, media reports say he is a native of Mexico who has also lived in Memphis; Long Beach, California; and Las Vegas.
The 2018 video he posted to YouTube comes from a speech he gave that year at an obscure copywriting conference identified as AWOL Elite. But listening to him tell portions of his life story on the video told me all I needed to know about how he was radicalized and conned into believing Trump’s big lie.
“I’ve been fired from almost every job I ever had,” he told the conference audience. “I thought I was a failure and that something was wrong with me.”
Sadly, there was. Because for all his manufactured hubris, Sandlin is no leader at all. He is a minion who was easily persuaded by Trump and his allies that a legitimate election was rigged. And that stopping Joe Biden from becoming president was the patriotic thing to do.
But what about all the other seemingly rational people who also believed Trump’s maniacal rants about a stolen election? What about every Republican U.S. House member from Tennessee — including Eighth District Rep. David Kustoff — who bought into the lies about widespread voter fraud in Arizona and Pennsylvania, and sided with Trump even after the insurrection had been quelled, a rioter killed and police officers injured?
They are supposed to be our clear-thinking elected leaders. And they are again asking Tennessee voters to return them to office in the midterm election next month. But not one of them has condemned Trump’s behavior. In fact, the opposite is true.
After the FBI conducted a legitimate and necessary search of Trump’s Florida resort and discovered boxes of classified and top-secret documents illegally stored there, Kustoff criticized the FBI rather than Trump. This is a man who once served as U.S. attorney for West Tennessee and who knows how FBI searches work.
Apparently, they all like serving in Congress so much that they would rather grovel before Trump and his supporters than uphold the rule of law.
In that sense, our GOP House members are no better than Sandlin and his partners in crime. All of them are election deniers.
At least Sandlin and others who stormed the Capitol are now admitting their wrongs and are facing the consequences. I’m still waiting for the deniers holding elected office to come to their senses, show some real leadership and stop kowtowing to a man who is willing to sacrifice democracy for the sake of his ego.
Sandlin has finally dropped the boasting and now admits the truth. It’s time for the politicians to follow suit.
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