PHOENIX (AP) – An Arizona man who participated in the January 6 uprising at the US Capitol while wearing face paint, shirtless and a furry horned hat now says he regrets breaking into the building, apologized for causing fear in other people and expressed disappointment with former President Donald Trump.
In a statement released on Monday by his lawyer, Jacob Chansley said he has reevaluated his life since he was arrested for more than a month on charges stemming from the riot and now realizes he should not have entered the Capitol building. Chansley, who said earlier that Trump inspired him to be in Washington on January 6, said that Trump “has let a lot of peaceful people down”.
Chansley said he is accepting the events that led to the riot and asked people to “be patient with me and other peaceful people who, like me, are having a hard time putting together everything that happened to us, around us, and for us. We are good people who care deeply about our country. ”
Chansley’s lawyer, Al Watkins, released the statement about half a day before Trump’s impeachment trial was scheduled to start in the U.S. Senate.
Watkins, who unsuccessfully sought forgiveness on behalf of Trump’s Chansley, said the Senate did not accept his offer that his client testify about how he was incited by the former president.
The defense attorney said his client’s apology was not self-serving, but a genuine expression of guilt. Still, he said he does not feel it is right for the government to prosecute people who have been incited.
“If you believe that the government is properly prosecuting the (ex) president, you cannot at the same time criminally hold those who were incited criminally because the incited people become victims,” Watkins said in an interview.
No one answered the phone at the United States Attorney General’s Office in the District of Columbia when the Associated Press called on Tuesday to comment on Chansley’s apology.
Chansley was among a group of hundreds of pro-Trump supporters who passed for fewer police officers and invaded the Capitol while Congress met to vote to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Officials say Chansley was one of the first people in the Capitol building, he disobeyed an official’s orders to leave, he refused the official’s request to use Chansley’s megaphone to tell protesters to leave the Senate chamber and wrote a note to the then Vice President Mike Pence saying: who said, “It’s just a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Prosecutors said the spear on top of a mast carried by Chansley was a weapon, although his lawyer characterized the spear as an ornament.
Since he was arrested, Chansley has had two cases where he was not eating because the detention facilities where he was being held did not serve organic food.
He lost 20 pounds (9 kilos) during the last episode of hunger. Chansley, who calls himself “QAnon Shaman”, said he has been on this diet for eight years while practicing shamanism.
Last week, a judge ordered prison officials to supply Chansley with organic food. He was later transferred to a prison in Virginia after the District of Columbia Department of Corrections said he could not honor the court’s order to feed him organic food.
He pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of civil disorder and obstruction of an official case, in addition to four other misdemeanor charges.