WASHINGTON – A man who broke into the United States Capitol while wearing face paint, shirtless and a furry horned hat was transferred to a prison in Virginia on Thursday after a federal judge ordered the authorities to supply him with organic food. while he was in custody.
Jacob Chansley was transferred to the Alexandria Detention Center after his lawyer argued that his client was nine days without food because organic food was not served in Washington prison. A judge ordered the prison authorities to provide a special diet.
Chansley has lost 20 pounds since moving from Arizona to Washington last week, his lawyer, Albert Watkins, told the judge. Chansley, who calls himself “QAnon Shaman”, considers eating organic food as part of his “shamanic belief system and lifestyle,” said the lawyer.
On Thursday, District Judge Royce Lamberth said the US Marshals Service told the court that the District of Columbia Department of Corrections had asked Chansley to be transferred because they could not honor the court’s order to feed him organic food.
The judge said prison officials in neighboring Alexandria could accommodate the special diet.
Chansley was indicted for civil disorder, obstruction, disorderly conduct and other charges for his role in the Capitol riot on January 6. He was among a group of hundreds of pro-Trump supporters who went through more police officers and invaded the Capitol while Congress gathered to vote to certify Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
Chansley told investigators that he came to the Capitol “at the president’s request that all ‘patriots’ go to DC on January 6,” according to court records.
The FBI identified Chansley from images taken during the riot that showed his distinctive tattoos. Chansley was inside the Capitol and on the Senate stage while carrying a US flag on a mast with a spear at the top. Authorities said he also wrote a threatening note to then Vice President Mike Pence.