The self-proclaimed “shaman” whose bare chest and horned fur headgear made him the face of the January 6 assault on the US Capitol was sentenced Wednesday to 41 months in prison, IgbereTV reports.
Jacob Chansley, 34, had pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding after taking part in the storming of the US Senate chamber by supporters of former president Donald Trump.
The court heard how, after entering the chamber, Chansley took then-vice president Mike Pence’s seat on the dais, leaving behind a message saying: “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming.”
“Men of honor admit when they’re wrong,” Chansley told the court. “I was wrong for entering the Capitol. I had no excuse.”
In a long, rambling statement, Chansley praised the judge and made references to Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, and US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“I’m not an insurrectionist. I’m certainly not a domestic terrorist,” he said.
The sentence matched the stiffest yet meted out to the hundreds of Trump supporters who took part in the assault.
Democrats have labeled the attack an insurrection that sought to block the Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the November 2020 presidential election.
Federal prosecutors had sought as much as 51 months in prison for Chansley, a promoter of the QAnon conspiracy theories who had traveled the country appearing at pro-Trump rallies.
600 people charged
Ahead of the sentencing, Assistant US Attorney Kimberly Paschall played for the court videos of Chansley in the Senate chamber, moments after Pence and senators had been evacuated due to the attack.
