QANON SHAMAN’S ARGUMENTS: “SO FRIVOLUS AS TO INSULT THE COURT’S INTELLIGENCE”

 

                …The QANON SHAMAN, as seen a the Capitol Riot on January 6^th

 

The above headline was a statement from the U.S. District Court Judge.

 

Known as the “QAnon Shaman,” Jacob Anthony Chansley became one of the most visible participants in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6^th. He was captured in news coverage worldwide chanting, praying and shouting expletives about Mike Pence being a “traitor”.  Al this, while holding a flag-draped spear at the vice president’s presiding desk in the Senate chamber.  “It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!” Chansley, 34, admitted in writing on a note he left at the vice president’s Senate desk.

The bare-chested man, photographed on the Senate dais in horns, fur-lined headdress and red-white-and-blue face paint pleaded guilty Friday.  He pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of Congress in the Capitol riot, potentially facing at least three years in prison.

Chansley, in a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to one of six charged counts being: corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, a joint session of Congress meeting to certify the 2020 presidential election.

(The Washington Post had obtained hours of video footage of the January 6^th attack, some exclusive, and they placed it within a digital 3-D model of the Capitol building which showed Chansley’s actions during the attack.) 

…This is a drawing of Jacob Chansley in court without his QAnon make up.

“That is really what happened? . . . and you are in fact guilty?” U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth asked at a plea hearing in federal court in Washington.

“Yes, your honor,” said Chansley, who appeared by video-teleconference from a low-security federal prison complex in Littleton, Colo., where he was taken for psychiatric evaluation in July.

The same judge scolded the ‘QAnon Shaman’ for appearing on ’60 Minutes’ without the judge’s permission.

Jacob Chansley was also photographed screaming "Freedom" inside the Senate chamber in the U.S. Capitol.  Chansley is one of a little more than 50 people who have pleaded guilty among the 600 charged so far in the Capitol breach, which authorities said contributed to five deaths, assaults against 139 police officers and later suicides among law enforcement who responded.

Chansley’s case highlighted the role played by the far-right QAnon extremist and in radicalizing some would-be insurrectionists.

The FBI has reported that more than 20 self-identified QAnon adherents were arrested in the riot, and one, Air Force veteran, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot by police while breaching a barricaded House Speaker’s Lobby door.  

A sick QAnon, unidentified “prophet”, had promised in thousands of cryptic posts based on discredited claims that President Donald Trump was leading a spiritual war against a cabal of Satan-worshipping “global elites”.  Also, the “prophet” said there were: “deep state international child-sex traffickers who control the world”, and that they struggled to have a mass roundup of enemies.

In costume and using the name Jacob Angeli, Chansley was repeatedly photographed and interviewed in 2020 at pro-Trump rallies, often carrying the sign that read, “Q sent me.”

“When you really do enough research, it all ties together,” Chansley told the Arizona Republic about QAnon.

 

…Chansley was seen with this sign at a number of President Trump’s rallies.

In social media posts before the riot, Chansley advocated for “identifying and then hanging those he believes to be traitors within the United States government.”  This is according to court documents.  FBI agents say that in interviews with them, Chansley said he had plans to go to the Arizona Capitol and that he might engage in similar acts in the future.

In plea papers, Chansley admitted being among one of the first 30 rioters inside the U.S. Capitol building, entering through a broken door on the first floor of the Senate side at about 2:14 p.m. after others smashed through adjacent windows.

The invasion triggered the evacuation of House and Senate members, as well as vice president Pence, who had refused Trump’s pleas to block the vote certification.  At 2:16 p.m., Chansley admitted, he challenged police using a bullhorn, demanding that lawmakers be brought out.

Chansley ignored police orders to leave the building, making his way instead to the Senate gallery and floor, which he occupied from 2:52 p.m. to 3:09 PM, he acknowledged.

A number of men, some wearing helmets, camouflage gear, and waving Trump flags and carrying zip ties.  They had rifled through desks, stole papers and described an “information operation” against the government.

As recorded on video by a New York reporter, a police officer urged these men to step away from “the sacredest place” in the Capitol.  Chansley replied he was going to sit in the vice president’s chair because Pence was a traitor, handing his phone to another participant to have his photo taken before beginning a shouted group prayer.

In plea papers, Chansley admitted to giving thanks for the opportunity “to allow us to send a message to all the tyrants, the communists, and the globalists, that this is our nation, not theirs, that we will not allow America, the American way of the United States of America to go down.”

He went on to say: “thank you for allowing the United States of America to be reborn. Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists, and the traitors within our government.”

Attorney Albert Watkins acknowledged his client “is iconically and forever linked as the face of January 6th,” but said he suffered from mental illness.  Chansley was a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a supply clerk seaman apprentice from 2005 to 2007, Chansley was kicked out for refusing an anthrax vaccine, military records show.

Military medical records supported the findings of a recent court-ordered evaluation conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which showed that while the defendant is mentally competent, he suffers from personality disorders exacerbated by pandemic lockdowns and over the eight months he has been jailed pending trial, attorney Watkins said.  

“The defendant was not a planner. He was not an organizer,” Watkins said, asking the judge to release Chansley pending sentencing.  Doing so would promote the “humanity” and “integrity” of proceedings and would get Chansley more medical care, Watkins said.  

“The events of January 6th will always remain, but the real truth of January 6th will be how our nation, our Department of Justice, our justice system employs patience and compassion for those with mental health vulnerabilities,” Watkins said. 

In a statement, Chansley’s attorney Watkins also said he “has repudiated the ‘Q’ previously assigned to him” and requested to no longer be identified with the letter “Q”

The judge took the request under advisement, after opposition by prosecutors, and said he would rule promptly.

Chansley was arrested Jan. 9 in Arizona and charged by a six-count indictment with felony counts of rioting and obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as misdemeanor counts including trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Chansley made headlines after his arrest when he asked to be fed only organic foods, citing religious beliefs, and he begged to be released after Watkins said he lost 20 pounds in jail.  The judge did not release Chansley.

Chansley also gave an unapproved interview from jail with “60 Minutes” in May, describing his actions as peaceful and well-intentioned, remarks that U.S. District Judge Lamberth wrote showed “a detachment from reality.”

There is all kinds of proof that Jacob Chansley is just one of a number of those that attended the Capitol riot that have some serious mental issues.

Copyright G. Ater 2021