Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man who gained notoriety as the “QAnon Shaman” who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. submitted paperwork run for Congress as a Libertarian candidate in the battleground state’s 8th Congressional District.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced last month that she will not seek re-election in the district.
Chansley stood out among the Capitol rioters by appearing shirtless with his face painted, wearing a furry headdress with horns and carrying an American flag attached to a spear and a megaphone.
Chansley had pleaded guilty to a single count of felony obstruction of an official proceeding.
A federal judge in 2021 sentenced Chansley to 41 months in prison. In a sentencing memo, prosecutors described him as the “public face of the Capitol riot.” Chansley was among the initial group of rioters who entered the building and used a megaphone “to rile up the crowd and demand that lawmakers be removed,” the sentencing memo said.
Chansley shouted obscenities in the Senate gallery and took the chamber podium, the memo said. He photographed himself there and refused officers’ orders to leave, leaving a note that said: “It’s just a matter of time. Justice is coming!”
Prosecutors said Chansley, who pushed the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, used social media to spread “false information and hateful rhetoric” that sparked the attack on the Capitol.
Chansley served about 27 months in prison before being transferred to a rehabilitation center in Phoenix in March, according to the Associated Press.
During a hearing, Chansley’s original lawyer, Albert Watkins, said that I no longer wanted to be known as the “QAnon Shaman.” At his sentencing hearing, Chansley expressed remorse for his actions, which he called “indefensible.”
“I was wrong to enter the Capitol,” he told the judge. “I have no excuse. “There is no excuse.”
austin mullen contributed.
Source link
