The self-described “QAnon Shaman”, Jacob Chansley, who infamously marched through the U.S. Capitol with a spear and horned helmet during the Jan. 6 riot, was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in prison for his role in the attack.
Prosecutors had asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to impose a longer 51-month sentence on Jacob Chansley, who pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding when he and thousands of others stormed the building to try to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s election.
At the hearing on Wednesday, November 17 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Chansley to 41 months in prison, although he will be given credit for the roughly 10 months he has already served.
“You didn’t slug anybody, but what you did here was actually obstruct the functioning of the whole government,” Lamberth said. “You know what you did was wrong. I admire you for being able to come to terms.”.
The Justice Department says Chansley was among the first 30 rioters to enter the Capitol on Jan. 6 as the crowd of Donald Trump supporters overwhelmed police, bashed in windows and pushed into the building. The mob forced lawmakers to flee and temporarily abandon their certification of Joe Biden’s election win.
Chansley was arrested days later and indicted on six charges, two of which were felonies, and ordered detained pending trial. He ultimately struck a deal with the government and pleaded guilty in September to a single count of obstruction of an official proceeding
During the hearing, Chansley addressed the court for around 40 minutes. He said he has spent much of the time he’s been locked up reflecting on his life and his actions on Jan. 6.
“Men of honor admit when they’re wrong. Not just publicly but to themselves,” he said. “I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I have no excuse. No excuse whatsoever. The behavior is indefensible.”
According to court papers, on Jan. 6, Chansley made his way into the Capitol and onto the floor of the Senate, where he scaled the dais.
After a police officer asked him to leave, Chansley refused and said: “Mike Pence is a f****** traitor.” On the desk at the dais, Chansley scrawled a note on a piece of paper that read: “It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!”
Chansley also led rioters in an incantation over his bullhorn, which he concluded with the words: “Thank you for allowing us to get rid of the communists, the globalists, and the traitors within our government.”
At Wednesday’s hearing, Chansley admitted that he was guilty, but also said he’s not a “dangerous criminal.”
“I am not a violent man. I am not an insurrectionist. I am certainly not a domestic terrorist,” Chansley told the court. “I am a good man who broke the law. And I’m doing everything I can to take responsibility for that.”
