Jacob Chansley, ‘QAnon Shaman’, pleads not guilty to charges brought over Capitol riot

Jacob Anthony Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman” whose fur headdress and horns made him among the most recognizable faces of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, pleaded not guilty to related charges Friday.

Mr. Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, entered the plea during a virtual arraignment held before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C.

Judge Lamberth, whom former President Reagan appointed to the federal bench in 1987, ordered Mr. Chansley to remain committed to the custody of the federal government. He is due back in court on March 5.

Mr. Chansley, of Arizona, was one of the first of more than 150 people whom the U.S. Department of Justice has charged so far with federal crimes related to the storming of the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

Wearing a fur headdress and horns – and covered in face paint and tattoos, the latter made apparent by his lack of a shirt – Mr. Chansley quickly became one of the most visible faces of Capitol breach.

Videos and photographs captured Mr. Chansley brazenly marching inside the Capitol, including on the dais inside the Senate chamber with a roughly six-foot-long spear with an American flag attached.

Mr. Chansley called the FBI the next day and “confirmed that he was the male in the face paint and headdress,” a special agent for the U.S. Capitol Police said in an affidavit filed afterward.

“Chansley stated that he came as a part of a group effort, with other ’patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ’patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 20201,” the agent wrote.

Indeed, former President Trump had urged his supporters to protest in D.C. that day when Congress was scheduled to count the electoral votes effectively recognizing him losing his race for reelection.

The House of Representatives impeached Mr. Trump the following week shortly before he was succeeded as expected by the decisive winner of the 2020 election, President Biden. A Senate trial is imminent.

Mr. Chansley was arrested on Jan. 8. A federal grand jury sworn-in that same day swiftly returned a six-count indictment that was subsequently unsealed by the Justice Department on Jan. 11.

Those six counts, all of which Mr. Chansley pleaded not guilty to Friday, include civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building.

Mr. Chansley was known around Phoenix before the insurrection for attending numerous protests, sometimes with a sign referencing the delusional QAnon conspiracy theory movement, local outlets reported. Several other QAnon supporters are among the scores facing charges related to storming the Capitol.