Capitol Rioter Known as QAnon Shaman Pleads Guilty - The New York Times
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Jacob Chansley, who stormed onto the Senate floor in face paint and a horned hat, accepted a deal under which federal prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison.
Jacob Chansley, a former actor and Navy sailor, was one of the first rioters to break into the Capitol on Jan. 6.Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times
By Alan Feuer
Sept. 3, 2021
Jacob Chansley, a former actor and Navy sailor widely known as the QAnon Shaman, who stormed the Capitol in January in stars-and-stripes face paint and a horned fur hat, pleaded guilty on Friday to a single felony count of obstructing an official proceeding before Congress.
Mr. Chansley, 34, became one of the best-known figures in the Capitol breach after images of him standing shirtless on the Senate floor brandishing a spear made from a flagpole shot around the globe, vividly representing the role played in the riot by adherents of QAnon, the cultlike conspiracy theory embraced by some backers of former President Donald J. Trump.
Mr. Chansley, who says he has now lost faith in Mr. Trump, remained in the spotlight even after his arrest.
In February, his lawyer, Albert Watkins, persuaded a federal judge to order the jail where Mr. Chansley was being detained to provide him with a strict diet of organic meals. The next month, Mr. Chansley gave a widely watched interview to "60 Minutes," saying that his actions on Jan. 6 were not an attack on the nation, but rather a way to "bring God back into the Senate."
His plea hearing in Federal District Court in Washington on Friday departed from the circuslike atmosphere that has surrounded the case from the start. He did not speak other than to answer yes-or-no procedural questions. Under the terms of his deal, Mr. Chansley agreed to accept a recommended 41 to 51 months in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 17.
Another defendant who pleaded guilty to the same charge this year was given eight months at a sentencing hearing in July.
Among the first rioters to break into the Capitol, Mr. Chansley was arrested three days later and charged with civil disorder, obstruction, disorderly conduct in a restricted building and demonstrating in a Capitol building. Prosecutors say that while he was in the Senate chamber, he left a note on the desk of Vice President Mike Pence saying, "It's only a matter of time, justice is coming."
ImageMr. Chansley says he has now lost faith in former President Donald J. Trump.Credit...Alexandria Sheriff'S Office
Mr. Chansley, who had appeared in his shaman costume at several pro-Trump rallies before Jan. 6, was also one of the first defendants to blame Mr. Trump for his own behavior at the riot. A few weeks after Mr. Chansley's arrest, Mr. Watkins said that Mr. Trump was culpable of inciting his followers to attack the Capitol, adding that he planned to ask the White House for a pardon for his client.
"Does our president bear responsibility?" Mr. Watkins told The New York Times at the time. "Hell, yes, he does."
More recently, however, Mr. Watkins has said that Mr. Chansley — like other rioters — felt betrayed by Mr. Trump. He also said that Mr. Chansley has repudiated the QAnon cult and would like to be known merely as a shaman, not the QAnon shaman.
"The path charted by Mr. Chansley since Jan. 6 has been a process, one which has involved pain, depression, solitary confinement, introspection, recognition of mental health vulnerabilities and a coming to grips with the need for more self-work," Mr. Watkins said in a statement on Thursday.
At a news conference after the hearing, Mr. Watkins told reporters that Mr. Chansley had been under pressure from his family not to plead guilty. His family, Mr. Watkins said, believed that Mr. Trump was going to be reinstated as president and could issue Mr. Chansley a pardon — a baseless theory of the sort once promoted by QAnon that continues to circulate among some Trump supporters.
"It took a lot of courage for a young man who was raised by his mother to say, 'No,'" Mr. Watkins said.
With Mr. Chansley's plea, 51 of the roughly 600 people who have been charged in connection with the riot have entered guilty pleas, most for misdemeanor offenses like disorderly conduct. At least another 11 defendants are scheduled to plead guilty by the end of October.
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Chansley is going away for a long time. For 4 years!
... not nearly enough time for any seditionists.
Maybe one out of a thousand people give a damn
Where I am sure he will come out a much better and stronger criminal if you listen to the left.
Or does it only work that way for those that they think will vote Democrat?
Prisons bad for leftists; good for those on the right.
Must be because the POS DOJ is still releasing BLM and Antifa members guilty of assaulting federal officers and destruction of federal property (except they used Molotov Cocktails, concrete milk shakes, aluminum baseball bats, knives, and fireworks while assaulting federal officers; and committed arson when destroying federal property) at a record pace w/o charges.
US two tier justice system still going strong.
... like running for elected office as a republican?
So far the longest sentence for a capitol insurgent has been 8 months for a felony, if he's been in jail all this time, he should get out pretty soon. Most of the rest of the 45 who have plead guilty have gotten probation or a few months home confinement so your two tier theory kind of goes out the window.
He’s going to learn what bad guys really are. Mom won’t be there to to hold his hand.
" ... a way to "bring God back into the Senate."
And he thought wearing horns would do the trick? He belongs in a box of Fruit Loops or Cracker Jacks, not jail.