Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, known as the QAnon Shaman, is seen at the Capital riots, January 6, 2021.
Brent Stirton | Getty Images
“QAnon shaman” Jacob Chansley, one of the most notorious figures of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, is set to be sentenced Wednesday for his role in the invasion of the halls of Congress by a horde of Trump supporters.
Chansley, who has been held without bail since his arrest in January, pleaded guilty in September to a single criminal count of obstructing a proceeding of Congress.
Prosecutors are seeking a prison term of four years and three months for Chansley, the top end of the 41-months-to-51 months range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines.
A prosecutor said such a sentence would send a warning to others who would seek to interfere with the peaceful transfer of the presidential office in the future.
The 33-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, resident Chansley was the first Capitol riot defendant to be indicted. Since then, more than 600 other people have been criminally charged in connection with the insurrection.
During Chansley’s sentencing hearing in Washington, D.C., federal court, a prosecutor played a video of Chansley howling while inside Congress.
“Time’s up you motherf—- !” Chansley shouted.
The prosecutor said, “Your honor, that is chilling.”
The tattooed Chansley was shirtless, wielding a spear, wearing face paint and a fur hat with horns when he walked into the Capitol complex with thousands of other people. The mob disrupted a joint session of Congress as lawmakers confirmed President Joe Biden‘s victory in the 2020 election.
Then-President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers to vote against confirming Biden’s win, and called on his supporters to march to the Capitol to promote that effort.
Photos and videos of Chansley in his bizarre garb went viral the day of the riot, and remained widely published in the weeks afterward.
“He made himself the image of the riot, didn’t he?” Judge Royce Lamberth asked Chansley’s lawyer Albert Watkins on Wednesday.
Watkins agreed Chansley had done so.
Chansley was one of a number of rioters who entered the Senate chamber, where then-Vice President Mike Pence presided over proceedings that day.
Prosecutors said Chansley sat in Pence’s seat on the dais. They said he refused an order by a police officer to leave, instead “calling other rioters up to the dais and leading them in an incantation over his bullhorn.”
Chansley left a note on the dais, which said, “It’s Only a Matter of Time. Justice is Coming,” and called Pence a “f—ing traitor.”
Chansley was an adherent of the bogus QAnon conspiracy theory.
Watkins has argued his client “was not a planner” of the riot, and said “he was not violent.”
“I am hopeful the court will promote the growth and healing of Mr. Chansley,” Watkins said when Chansley pleaded guilty.
Reuters reported in July that Chansley, who is also known as Jacob Angeli, was in plea negotiations with prosecutors after prison psychologists diagnosed him as suffering from mental illnesses including transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
