Qanon Shaman sentencing: Chansley lawyer blasts Trump for ‘f***ing up’ Jan 6 jackasses
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Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
The sentence is ten months shorter than what the prosecution recommended. Chansley has already served almost 11 months following his January arrest.
Jacob Chansley pleaded guilty in September to obstructing an official proceeding for taking part in the siege of Congress when Trump supporters stormed the legislature in an effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Ahead of today’s sentencing, prosecutors have urged District Judge Royce Lamberth to send Chansley to prison for 51 months.
“Defendant Chansley’s now-famous criminal acts have made him the public face of the Capitol riot,” prosecutors argued.
Chansley’s defence team requested a sentence of time served for the time that he has spent in custody since being detained in January. Prison staff have diagnosed Chansley with transient schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety during his time behind bars.
As he pled guilty, Chansley said he was disappointed that he hadn’t received a pardon from former President Donald Trump before he left office.
Judge tells Chansley that he could have received 20 years if he had gone to trial
Judge Royce Lambert told Jacob Chansley that he was “smart” not to go to trial because he could have received 20 years in prison instead of the three and half years of jail time he was handed on Wednesday following his September guilty plea.
“You did the right thing,” the judge said.
After being credited the almost 11 months he has already served after being arrested in January, Chansley could be released in 2024.
Jan 6 rioter in horned fur hat sentenced to 41 months
Jacob Chansley, the spear-carrying Jan. 6 rioter whose horned fur hat, bare chest and face paint made him one of the more recognizable figures in the assault on the Capitol, was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in prison.
Chansley, who pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, was among the first rioters to enter the building. He has acknowledged using a bullhorn to rile up the mob, offering thanks in a prayer while in the Senate for having the chance to get rid of traitors and scratching out a threatening note to Vice President Mike Pence saying, “It’s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming!”
Though he isn’t accused of violence, prosecutors say Chansley, of Arizona, was the “public face of the Capitol riot” who went into the attack with a weapon, ignored repeated police orders to leave the building and gloated about his actions in the days immediately after the attack.
Before he was sentenced, Chansley told US District Judge Royce Lamberth it was wrong for him to enter the Capitol and that he accepts responsibility for his actions. He emphasized he wasn’t an insurrectionist and is troubled with the way he was portrayed in news stories in the aftermath of the riot.
“I have no excuse,” Chansley said. “No excuses whatsoever. My behavior is indefensible.”
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Jan. 6 rioter in horned fur hat sentenced to 41 months
Jacob Chansley, the spear-carrying Jan. 6 rioter whose horned fur hat, bare chest and face paint made him one of the more recognizable figures in the assault on the Capitol, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison
Glenn Greenwald criticised after slamming Chansley sentence
Journalist Glenn Greenwald has been criticised after he blasted the 41-month sentence of Jacob Chansley.
“He got 41 months in prison, after already spending 10 months in solitary confinement. Only a sick, punitive society imprisons non-violent protesters for years in harsh conditions - or one that regards particular ideologies as inherently criminal,” Mr Greenwald wrote.
National Security journalist Marcy Wheeler responded that he was in effect saying “that people who threaten the Vice President and - by their own admission - obstruct the peaceful transfer of power should not do real time”.
Calling him a “fascist apologist”, Ms Wheeler added that Mr Greenwald “deems the action of interrupting the peaceful transfer of power to be something ideological”.
Mr Greenwald later reposted a tweet from journalist Michael Tracey, who wrote: “Can the people celebrating [the sentence] please stop pretending that they’re principled advocates for a less punitive criminal justice system. You just want your perceived political enemies punished with the full force of the state. Chansley was never even accused of any violent offences.”
Capitol riot defence lawyer: ‘It’s a bad day’ for those who were on the senate floor on 6 January
An unnamed Capitol riot defence lawyer has said that “it’s a bad day” for over 200 defendants connected to the attack on Congress following the 41-month sentence for Jacob Chansley.
“Everyone on the floor of the Senate or anyone charged with violence towards the police is looking at 41 months,” the attorney said, according to Scott MacFarlane of NBC4. “There are 200 defendants right now who just realized what they are now looking at. It’s a bad day for them.”
Defence lawyers praise Assistant US Attorneys
The defence lawyers in two Capitol riot cases have praised the Assistant US Attorneys who acted as the government prosecution in the cases of Jacob Chansley and Kevin Fairlamb.
Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in jail on Wednesday, a week after Fairlamb received the same sentence. Chansley pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding while Fairlamb pleaded guilty to obstruction and hitting a police officer during the insurrection on 6 January.
“The decency of prosecutors like this serve only to elevate the entire criminal justice system,” Fairlamb’s lawyer, Harley Breite said, according to national security reporter Marcy Wheeler.
The attorney for Chansley, Al Watkins, said he was glad the prosecution in his case was able to look at his client as an individual.
The defendants in both cases also said that they would readily accept the sentence of Judge Royce Lamberth.
“I could not have asked god for a better judge, to judge my character, this is a wise man, who’s going to be impartial, going to be fair,” Chansley said.
“I just hope you show some mercy on me, sir,” Fairlamb told the judge.