'I was duped by Trump!' QAnon Shaman 'regrets' participating in Capitol riot as his lawyer says ex-president's failure to issue a pardon was a 'betrayal' by the man who 'led him down the primrose path'
The man dubbed the 'QAnon Shaman' has claimed through his attorney that he was 'duped' by Donald Trump into participating in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, is being held without bail on federal charges, and on Thursday his attorney spoke out to say that he blames Trump for leading him down the 'primrose path'.
'He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the President, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made,' attorney Al Watkins told KSDK-TV.
Chansley, who also goes by Jake Angeli, gained infamy during the riot for his striking appearance in a horned helmet and furs in the Senate Chamber, and later drew mockery for a hunger strike behind bars to insist he be fed all-organic food.
Watkins, his attorney, argued that Trump had drawn Chansley into a web of lies, but said that Trump's lack of action during the riot and failure to issue pardons had been a wake-up call to his client.
Jacob Anthony Chansley, 33, has claimed through his attorney that he was 'duped' by Donald Trump into participating in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
Chansley is being held without bail on federal charges and faces 25 years in prison. Above, a court sketch shows in a video appearance in Phoenix at a pre-trial detainment hearing
During his rally just prior to the riot, Trump had vowed to march on the Capitol with his supporters, but instead retreated to the White House to watch on TV
'Let's roll the tape. Let's roll the months of lies, and misrepresentations and horrific innuendo and hyperbolic speech by our president designed to inflame, enrage, motivate,' said Watkins.
'What's really curious is the reality that our president, as a matter of public record, invited these individuals, as President, to walk down to the capitol with him,' he said.
During his rally just prior to the riot, Trump had vowed to march on the Capitol with his supporters, but instead retreated to the White House to watch the events unfold on television.
Watkins said it was unfair to lump his client in with others who participated in the riot.
'As to my client, the guy with the horns and the fur, the meditation and organic food...I'm telling you that we cannot simply wave a magic wand and label all these people on January 6th the same,' he said.
Chansley is charged with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building, entering a restricted building without lawful authority and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
Attorney Al Watkins (seen in 2018) had made a public plea for Trump to pardon his client, and called the lack of a pardon a 'betrayal' that would spur a great awakening in Chansley
Jacob Anthony Chansley is pictured as he occupied the Senate dais at the US Capitol
Watkins had made a public plea for Trump to pardon his client, but despite issuing a slew of pardons in his final hours in office, Trump did not pardon any participants in the Capitol riot.
'No one was holding their breath on the request and, as such, there is no need to exhale,' Watkins, who i based in St. Louis, told KMOV-TV of his pardon plea.
'The request was of extraordinary value in that it accorded Trump an opportunity to do what his followers believed would have been the 'honorable' thing to do,' said Watkins.
'Mr. Chansley, along with many others who were similarly situated, are now compelled to reconcile a betrayal by a man whose back they felt they had for years,' he said.
Watkins said Trump's indifference likely spurred a great awakening for his client and other January 6 participants, alerting him to the fact that their devotion to Trump was not reciprocated.
'They are compelled to be introspective and evaluate how they got where they are, the role of their former leader in that tragic course, and the vulnerabilities they share such as to be led down a primrose path by a man whose back is now squarely fading into the Mar-a-Lago sunset as he walks spiritually hand-in-hand with Lil Wayne,' he added.
Jacob Chansley pictured inside the Capitol building during the January 6 riot
Martha Chansley, mother of Jacob Chansley, exits the United States District Court in Phoenix after his appearance last week
He compared Chansley's situation to being a jilted lover or even a member of a cult.
'The only thing that was missing at the Capitol was the president, our president, stirring up the Kool-Aid with a big spoon,' Watkins told the AP on Tuesday.
Last week, a judge in Arizona, where Chansley was arrested, denied his request for bail and ordered him transported to DC where he will be held pending further proceedings.
Arizona Magistrate Judge Deborah Fine said at a pretrial detention hearing: 'I do believe he was an active participant in a violent insurrection that attempted to overthrow the US government on January 6 2021.'
Fine said she made the decision on three concerns: that she believes Chansley is 'a serious flight risk', he 'poses a risk to obstructing justice' and is 'a danger to the community'.
The decision came after federal prosecutors submitted a detailed court filing saying Chansley had told federal authorities he was 'glad' he sat in Mike Pence's chair on the Senate dais.
The court documents revealed that he spewed QAnon conspiracy theories and said he was 'glad' because he believes the Vice President 'is a child-trafficking traitor'.
QAnon was the extreme and debunked conspiracy theory that claimed a global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles was plotting against Trump.
A mural depicting Chnasley appears on a wall in Tunbridge Wells, England
Chansley's lawyer says that he reached out to the White House about a possible pardon on behalf of the Arizona man, acknowledging it was a reach
Prosecutors say Chansley also told federal authorities he left a note warning Pence 'it's only a matter of time - justice is coming' - but claimed the note was not meant to be threatening.
Chansley had also been planning to return to Washington DC to create a disturbance at Joe Biden's inauguration before he was arrested Saturday, according to federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors dropped the claim that Chansley plotted to capture and assassinate elected officials at last week's hearing saying they didn't have 'direct evidence' of it at this time.
During the hearing, Chansley spoke only to answer 'yes, your honor' when asked if he agreed to appear by video due to the pandemic.
The judge said she believes Chansley would be a danger to the community if released and that there were no conditions the court could set to stop such danger.
She pointed to his actions in the Capitol as a sign that he will not follow the orders of the court.
He was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds. A view of pro-Trump supporters storming the Capitol building January 6 above
'He will take the law into his own hands and will not respect the law,' said Fine.
'If he is willing to do that in the Capitol building during these important events [the Electoral College certification] I have no confidence that Mr Chansley will follow any order or condition that I set.'
Chansley faces up to 25 years in prison for two felony charges and four misdemeanors - a sentence Fine said gave him a 'strong incentive' to flee.
She said his actions since the riot - where he spoke of his involvement to the media and called the FBI to speak of his involvement but did not hand himself in - had also shown a person who thinks he is 'righteous'.
The judge also asked: 'When does a protest turns into a riot? When is a protest an insurrection?'
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