National Post (National Edition)

QANON SHAMAN, DESK POSER, CONGRESSMA­N, PHOTOGRAPH­ER

WHO WERE THE MEMBERS OF THE MOB THAT STORMED THE CAPITOL BUILDING?

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THE HORNED RIOTER JAKE ANGELI, THE ARIZONA ACTOR AND POSTER BOY FOR QANON

Of all the rioters who stormed the Capitol, one man stood out.

Posing for pictures in a furry horned headdress, Jake Angeli stood shirtless, his body heavily tattooed, his face painted, screaming through a megaphone while thrusting a spear into the air to which an American flag was tied.

The hardcore Trump supporter from Arizona is an actor and voice-over artist who is the unofficial Shaman for QAnon. The conspiracy theory group claims the U.S. government is controlled by a “deep state” cabal of anti-Trump Satanist pedophiles, but that hasn't stopped high-ranking officials posing for photos with Angeli.

In November, after the election, Angeli met Rudy Giuliani during a visit to Arizona by Trump's personal lawyer.

The 32-year-old has appeared at a number of proTrump rallies in the past two years and has gained a cult following on social media.

Despite his brazen entry into the Capitol building, it is not thought that he was arrested.

Adrian Morrow, a Canadian reporter, tweeted: “I spoke with Jake Angeli … He said police eventually gave up trying to stop him and other Trump supporters, and let them in. After a while, he said police politely asked him to leave and let him go without arrest.”

PELOSI SQUATTER RICHARD BARNETT, A SELF-PROCLAIMED ARKANSAS `WHITE NATIONALIS­T'

A Capitol rioter pictured with his feet up in the offices of U.S. House of Representa­tives Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been identified as Richard Barnett, a self-described “white nationalis­t” Trump supporter from Arkansas.

Barnett, 60, who was one of several protesters who stormed into Pelosi's office, wrote her a “nasty note” and took a letter addressed to Billy Long, a Republican Congressma­n in Missouri.

After fleeing outside, he waved the letter around and gave a foul-mouthed interview to waiting reporters, where he complained of having been squirted with mace spray by police. He mockingly denied stealing the envelope, saying he had left some loose change on Pelosi's desk by way of payment.

“I didn't steal it. I bled on it because they were macing me and I couldn't f---ing see,” Barnett said, according to a video posted on Twitter by a New York Times reporter.

“So I figure, I'll put a quarter on her desk even though she ain't f---ing worth it.” Barnett's note to Pelosi reportedly read: “Nancy, Bigo was here, you b----.”

He added: “When the police came in with pepper spray, I said, `I paid for this, it's mine,' and I left.”

He claimed he had tried to knock on Pelosi's door first, and had simply been swept into her office by the crowds pushing behind him.

“I'll probably be telling them this is what happened all the way to the D.C. jail,” he said.

`THEY'RE IN!' POLITICIAN WHIPS UP MOB

A newly elected politician from West Virginia is facing calls to resign and could be imprisoned after filming himself storming the U.S. Capitol building and whipping up the angry mob with chants of “freedom”.

Derrick Evans who was sworn into West Virginia's House of Delegates last month, wore a black helmet as he forced his way into the building among a crush of rioters, live streaming the episode on the Internet.

In the now-deleted video, Evans can be heard urging people to push into the building, shouting: “They're in! They're in! They're in!” when the doors were breached. Referring to himself in the third person, he then shouts: “Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!”

Other footage shows him warning people not to vandalize anything, as he wanders around the Rotunda, where historic paintings depict the republic's founding.

But despite what it looks like, Evans has released a statement saying that he was not a part of the mob, and was in fact “simply there as an independen­t member of the media to film history.”

Whom he was working for is not clear, and why he deleted the footage if it was filmed in good journalist­ic faith is also not known. In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday night, Evans said that he had “travelled across the country to film many different events,” and that earlier he had “had the opportunit­y to film at another event in D.C. I want to assure you all that I did not have any negative interactio­ns with law enforcemen­t nor did I participat­e in any destructio­n that may have occurred.”

About 10,000 West Virginia locals have signed an online petition to remove him from office.

Roger Hanshaw, speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, said he had not spoken to Evans about the events, though he saw what was posted online. He added that “storming government buildings and participat­ing in a violent intentiona­l disruption of one of our nation's most fundamenta­l political institutio­ns is a crime that should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

SHOOTING WITNESS ADAM GRAY, BRITISH PHOTOGRAPH­ER WHO WAS IN ROOM WHEN RIOTER KILLED

A British photograph­er who was in the room when police shot dead a rioter inside the Capitol building says he is still coming to terms with the seismic events.

Adam Gray said it was the most significan­t event he has covered and described how he saw 35-year-old Ashli Babbitt lying on the floor as police tried to save her life.

“This is the type of thing you see on the news in Bolivia, not the United States,” said the 34-year-old, who has been in the U.S. for three years. Gray had set himself up opposite the White House to take pictures of President Donald Trump's speech. But word started spreading that there would be a splinter protest outside the Capitol building, and there would be an attempt to storm it.

“I went up to the Capitol building waiting for the crowd because I knew I'd have to be at the front if they tried to get in,” he said. People burst through the control fences, guarded by only 20 or so police officers.

“They were not ready at all,” said Gray, who moved to the East side of the building where rioters were also trying to break in. “I was in with the first wave.”

Then things turned sour. “I was at the back of the room where Ashli Babbitt was shot. I heard a bang, which I thought was a flash bang or stun grenade, but someone shouted `she's been shot.'

“I forced my way to the front and saw the girl on the floor. The policeman in tactical gear had his hands pressuring the top of her chest, but she was in a bad way.”

 ?? WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES ?? ABOVE: Rioter Jake Angeli, an Arizona supporter of President Donald Trump, frolics inside the Senate chamber after the U.S. Capitol was breached by a mob during a joint session of Congress. BELOW LEFT: Richard Barnett makes himself at home in one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices.
BELOW RIGHT: Derrick Evans takes the oath of office in West Virginia's House of Delegates about a month prior to taking part in the insurgency.
WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES ABOVE: Rioter Jake Angeli, an Arizona supporter of President Donald Trump, frolics inside the Senate chamber after the U.S. Capitol was breached by a mob during a joint session of Congress. BELOW LEFT: Richard Barnett makes himself at home in one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's offices. BELOW RIGHT: Derrick Evans takes the oath of office in West Virginia's House of Delegates about a month prior to taking part in the insurgency.
 ?? PERRY BENNETT / WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATUR­E VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ??
PERRY BENNETT / WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATUR­E VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 ?? AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES ??
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

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