Prosecutors on Sunday dismissed the idea that new public images of Jacob Chansley — known as the QAnon shaman — accompanied by police at the Capitol undermine his Jan. 6, 2021, criminal behavior.
In their first response since Fox News’ Tucker Carlson broadcast the footage—provided to him by speaker Kevin McCarthy—prosecutors indicated that Carlson only broadcast footage from a four-minute period near the end of Chansley’s hour-long journey through the Capitol, during which the most stressful aspects of his behaviour.
“The footage on television shows Chansley’s movements only from about 2:56 p.m. to 3 p.m.,” prosecutors said in a 10-page lawsuit linked to the incendiary conspiracy trial of five Proud Boys leaders, including Dominic Pezzola, who sparked a riot. used shield to initiate the Capitol breakthrough.
Prior to that, Chansley had, among other things, breached a police line with the crowd at 2:09 p.m., entered the Capitol less than a minute behind Pezzola during the building’s initial breach, and confronted members of the U.S. Capitol Police for more than thirty minutes outside the doors of the Senate chamber as elected officials, including the Vice President of the United States, fled the chamber,” they continued.
Footage broadcast by Carlson earlier this month showed Chansley walking the corridors of the Capitol, accompanied by police officers, who at times appeared to ease his movements—even opening a gull-wing door for him at one point— and certainly not trying to subject him. But the clips didn’t indicate what time of day the footage came from or anything about the context of the interactions.
Nevertheless, the episode — heralded by Carlson as a refutation of the prevailing perception of the January 6 events — sparked a firestorm among allies of former President Donald Trump, who have long tried to downplay the January 6 riot and the threat it posed. to the transfer of power. Separately, Twitter owner Elon Musk spoke out in favor of Chansley’s release over the weekend. Chansley’s current attorney, William Shipley, has indicated he intends to take “creative” action to aid his client’s legal battle.
But Carlson withheld footage of Chansley’s entry into the Capitol, which came amid the first wave of rioters overrunning police, as well as footage of a lengthy confrontation with police outside the Senate, and Chansley’s own journey inside the Senate chamber. , where he was on the Senate Tribune, recited a prayer and wrote an ominous message to then-Vice President Mike Pence: “It is only a matter of time. Justice is coming.”
“In short, Chansley was not a passive, supervised observer of events during the hour or so he was unlawfully in the Capitol,” the prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors stressed that U.S. Capitol police officers were overwhelmed during the riot at the time and resorted to triage to minimize damage from the riot.
“That afternoon, those defending the Capitol were in triage mode for a time — trying to deal with the most violent element of those unlawfully present, holding those parts of the Capitol that had not yet been taken by rioters, and protect those members and staff who were still trapped in the Capitol,” the prosecutors wrote.
Chansley’s defenders have noted that he received inordinate attention for his role in the riot, in part due to his outlandish attire — he strode shirtless through the Capitol, sporting a horned helmet and full face painting, while carrying a sharp finial flagpole that the judge in his case to conclude that he was carrying a dangerous weapon.
Chansley is not charged with violence and has claimed he had positive interactions with officers at the Capitol and encouraged other rioters not to loot the building. He became one of the first rioters to plead guilty to obstruction after about eight months in pretrial detention — which was ordered by an Arizona magistrate judge and upheld by D.C.-based U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. Lamberth sentenced him to 41 months in prison in November 2021.
Chansley is currently incarcerated and will be released in July.
Chansley’s allies say the footage broadcast by Carlson could have changed the case against him. However, in Sunday’s filing, the Justice Department claimed it sent all but 10 seconds of footage to Chansley’s lawyer on Sept. 24, 2021 — about three weeks after Chansley pleaded guilty, but more than a month before his sentencing.
Pezzola’s defense seized on the flap about the Carlson footage to push for the entire case against the Proud Boys to be dropped, arguing that it proved evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and that the Capitol crowd was nonviolent .
“Once bound to facts and reality, Defendant Pezzola’s arguments quickly unravel,” the Justice Department wrote.
