A man who calls himself “QAnon Shaman” and invaded the US Capitol on January 6 while wearing a horned bearskin headdress, face paint and shirtless, is willing to testify at the impeachment trial of former President Trump , said his lawyer this week.
Jacob Anthony Chansley later regretted being “cheated” by the former president after he did not receive a pardon after the attack on the Capitol, attorney Albert Watkins told KSDK-TV in St. Louis last week.
Watkins added that Chansley also regretted “being in a position where he allowed cheating to put him in a position to make decisions he shouldn’t have made”.
The lawyer told the Associated Press that he has not yet spoken to any lawmakers about the offer and senators have not voted whether to allow witnesses during the trial, which failed to vote during Trump’s first impeachment trial.
ARCHIVE – In this archival photo of this Wednesday, January 6, 2021, supporters of President Donald Trump, including Jacob Chansley, in the center with a fur and horned hat, are confronted by Capitol police outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. A video showed Chansley leading others in a prayer inside the Senate chamber. (AP Photo / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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At that time, however, Republicans had a majority, which has now passed to Democrats.
Watkins said it is important for senators to hear the voice of someone who was allegedly incited by Trump. He described Chansley as having been “terribly in love” with Trump, but said that when he did not receive forgiveness after the turmoil, he felt “betrayed”.
Trump was accused by the House of “inciting insurrection” after the riots and the Senate trial is scheduled to begin the week of February 8.
It will be the first impeachment trial of a former United States president.
While Democrats are considering whether to use witnesses in the trial, House of Democrats impeachment managers are likely to use part of the abundance of social media videos that in many cases were filmed by the protesters themselves.
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Chansley is scheduled to be prosecuted on Friday in Washington, DC, where he faces charges of civil unrest, obstruction of an official process, disorderly conduct in a restricted building and demonstration in a Capitol building, among other charges.
Watkins argued last week that his client was practically “invited” to the Capitol by Trump and urged to take extreme measures to reverse the election results.
“We are going to release the tape,” he told KSDK. “We are going to spend the months of lies, misrepresentations and horrible innuendo and hyperbolic speech from our president with the aim of inflaming, infuriating and motivating.”
In seeking his detention pending trial, prosecutors said Chansley went to the Capitol carrying a US flag attached to a wooden mast with a spear, ignored an official’s orders to leave, went to the Senate House and wrote a threatening note. to then Vice President Mike Pence.
Chansley, who has long participated in Trump’s rallies, told investigators that he came to the Capitol “at the request of the president for all ‘patriots’ to come to DC on January 6,” according to court records.
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He was detained in his home state, Arizona, until his indictment in Washington, DC
Vandana Rambaran of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.