Capitol riot ‘shaman’ sent to prison for 41 months
‘Remarkable’ 30-minute apology to district court impresses trial judge who calls his remorse ‘genuine’
THE Qanon “shaman” who became the face of the Capitol riots when he used a bullhorn to “rile up the crowd” was sent to jail yesterday.
Jacob Chansley, whose horned headdress and tattooed torso made him a focal point of the Capitol attack that was responsible for the deaths of five people, said in a lengthy apology that his behaviour had been “indefensible”. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison for obstructing official proceedings – the joint longest term so far handed down to one of the rioters.
In seeking a harsh penalty, prosecutors said they hoped to send a message to others who delayed Congress’s certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.
Chansley’s sentence is likely to be seen as a benchmark for the hundreds of other rioters awaiting prosecution for their role in the deadly Jan 6 attack.
The 34-year-old was among the first 30 people to enter the Capitol, parading through the building shirtless and using a bullhorn to “rile up the crowd and demand the lawmakers be brought out”, according to prosecutors.
He was later captured sitting on the
‘He has long suffered from bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety’
seat of Mike Pence, then the US Vicepresident, and declaring him a traitor.
“It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming!” Chansley wrote in a note he left behind, according to prosecutors.
In a long, rambling address to the court yesterday, Chansley invoked Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, and the prison drama The Shawshank Redemption as he accepted responsibility for his actions.
“I’m not an insurrectionist. I’m certainly not a domestic terrorist,” he told the Washington DC district court. Prosecutors had painted Chansley as the “public face” of the riot and had hoped to make an example of him by seeking a maximum 51-month sentence. Such a sentence, said prosecutor Kimberly Paschall, would send a message: “Don’t think the justice system will sit idly by while you attempt to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power.”
But Judge Royce Lamberth said he had been moved by the defendant’s “genuine remorse”. He called Chansley’s 30-minute speech to the court the “most remarkable I’ve heard in 34 years”, comparing it to those of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King.
But he said the gravity of his actions meant he could not go below the recommended sentencing guidelines. “What you did here was as horrific as you now concede”, he said.
Chansley’s lawyer, Albert Watkins, had pleaded for leniency, citing his client’s “dire need of mental health treatment”. He said Chansley has long suffered from diagnosed mental illnesses including bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.
“He is accountable and wants to be held accountable,” Mr Watkins said.
Chansley had appeared at pro-trump rallies across the US, garnered a social media following in the months before January 6. In an interview from jail, the self-proclaimed “shaman” from Phoenix, Arizona, said he was merely hoping “to bring God back into the Senate” when he breached the Capitol building.
He pleaded guilty in September to one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, namely the counting of the electoral votes in the presidential election. He later said he was disappointed that Mr Trump did not use his presidential powers to pardon him.
Chansley was one of more than 600 people charged over the Capitol attack. Most of the sentences, mainly for charges of illegal entry into the Capitol, have been fairly light.
However, most of the more serious cases, relating to conspiracy and assault on police officers, are yet to be heard.