Jacob Anthony Chansley arrested: Jake Angeli aka Qanon Shaman charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct. Had claimed he did nothing wrong prior to arrest. A study of a leading pro Trump Stop the Steal protester.
A heavily tattooed individual donning a fur hat and horns during Capitol pro Trump riots has been arrested and is now in custody on charges of violent entry and disorderly conduct.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, of Phoenix, Arizona also known as Jake Angeli going by the ‘stage name’ of QAnon Shaman was brought to account this weekend after the FBI appealed to the public to help bring ‘assailants to justice’.
A statement from the federal attorney for Washington DC said: ‘It is alleged that Chansley was identified as the man seen in media coverage who entered the Capitol building dressed in horns, a bearskin headdress, red, white and blue face paint, shirtless, and tan pants.’
‘This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade.’
Upon his arrest on Saturday, Chansley was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
‘I did nothing wrong: I walked through an open door, dude’
According to court documents, Chansley called the FBI field office in Washington and confirmed to an agent that ‘he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President’s chair in the Senate.’
Chansley told the agent that he and other ‘patriots’ had come from Arizona at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on Jan 6, the documents state.
Angeli often known as the QAnon Shaman, became a fixture at recent right-wing rallies while decked out in his signature attire. Images of the ‘part time actor’ have since gone viral on social media.
Of note, one of his tattoos Angeli was seen wearing included the symbol of Wotanism, an acronym for ‘Will of the Aryan Nation.’ The signage further emboldens the view that a disproportionate amount of Stop the Steal protesters are white supremacists and sympathizers bent on anti-immigration- a message that Trump has given implicit support to.
Told Angeli by way of NBCNews prior to his arrest, ‘The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker.’ Adding, ‘I consider that a win.’
The MAGA supporter also claimed not having done anything wrong by entering the U.S. Capitol. ‘I walked through an open door, dude,’ he said.
Chansley is expected to have an initial appearance in federal court next week in Phoenix, a Justice spokesperson told The Arizona Republic.
He was among three men charged on Saturday in federal court in connection with the riots. Also charged Saturday were Derrick Evans, a recently elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and Adam Johnson of Florida, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern Wednesday.
