By Aaron Miller-
Jacob Chansley, the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the US Capitol riot.
The sentence is similar to that given last week to Scott Fairlam- a former mixed martial arts fighter jailed for 41 months after pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the riot.
Jacob Chansley, who calls himself Jake Angeli, was among the first people to storm the building following Donald Trump’s rally in Washington on 6 January.
Images of Chansley bare-chested, wearing a pair of horns, with his face painted in the colours of the American flag, were shared across the globe following the riots. He had indeed become the main face of the notorious insurrection that had congresmen quaking in their boots as they met to officialise the election victory of Joe Biden.
The Justice Department had asked for Chansley to receive a harsh sentence as a way to set an example among the January 6 rioters, and prosecutors have positioned Chansley as emblematic of a barbaric crowd.
Judge Royce Lamberth has had Chansley held in jail since his arrest, despite his strong efforts to be released.
Chansley is one of the first felony defendants among more than 660 Capitol riot cases to receive a punishment.
Leading a host of rioters inside the building, he made his way to the Senate dais that was hastily vacated earlier by then-Vice President Mike Pence, and left a note that read, “It’s Only A Matter Of Time. Justice Is Coming!” according to his plea documents.
Chansley also carried an American flag on a speared flagpole, which prosecutors have characterized as a weapon.
“He made himself the image of the riot, didn’t he?” Lamberth said to Chansley’s defense attorney. “For good or bad, he made himself the very image of this whole event.”
Prosecutor Kimberly Paschall used several videos to show Chansley’s entrance into the Capitol building and Senate chamber, yelling along with the crowd. “That is not peaceful.”
Paschall called his role as the “flag-bearer” of the mob “chaos” and “terrifying.”
Before January 6, Chansley “posted vitriolic messages on social media, encouraging his thousands of followers to expose corrupt politicians, to ID the traitors in the government, to halt their agenda, to stop the steal, and end the deep state,” Paschall said. “That was a call to battle.”
Pardon
Chansley who at the time of his illegal acts had asked then-President Donald Trump for a pardon, tried his best to convince the sitting judge to show clemency in his case.
He had also gone on a hunger strike in an attempt to get organic food while in custody and spoke to “60 Minutes” from jail without permission. In September, Chansley pleaded to a felony charge of obstructing Congress’ certification of the 2020 vote.
Chansley spoke to Lamberth about the impact jail has had on him, and the guilt he feels for breaking the law.
Speech
In an emotional and intelligent speech of contrition which unfortunately came too late, he said he was wrong to enter the Capitol on January 6, and that he is not an insurrectionist or domestic terrorist, but rather a “good man who broke the law.”
Imploring Judge Lamberth to “judge a tree by its roots” in considering his sentence, he said: “I am in no way, shape, or form a violent criminal. I am not an insurrectionist. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist,” he said. “I hope that you see my heart.”
“I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse — no excuse whatsoever,” Chansley said. “In retrospect, I’d do everything differently on Jan. 6 … I would try with all my heart and soul to stop people.”
“I think the hardest part about this is that I know that I’m to blame,” he added. “I hope that you see my remorse is genuine.”
Chansley quoted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and “The Shawshank Redemption,” and described wanting to live his life like Jesus Christ and Gandhi.
“The hardest part about this is to know that I’m to blame. To have to look in the mirror and know, you really messed up. Royally,” Chansley said.
“I was in solitary confinement because of me. Because of my decision. I broke the law … I should do what Gandhi would do and take responsibility,” he says. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, that’s what men of honor do.” He promised to never have to be jailed again.
“I think your remarks are the most remarkable I’ve heard in 34 years,” Lamberth told Chansley, calling his speech “akin to the kind of thing Martin Luther King would have said.”
However, Lamberth added, “what you did here was as horrific as you now concede.”
Chansley will also have to pay $2,000 for damage done to the Capitol building during the riot, and will serve three years of supervised release at the end of his prison term.