A 33-year-old Arizona man who was caught on camera shirtless while wearing a fur-lined headdress with horns and face paint during last week’s siege at the U.S. Capitol served in the Navy for two years.
Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley, who also goes by Jake Angeli, was arrested Saturday and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, the Department of Justice announced.
He was also charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. “This individual carried a spear, approximately 6 feet in length, with an American flag tied just below the blade,” according to a statement from the DOJ.
Chansley served in the Navy as a supply clerk seaman apprentice, according to his personnel records. He joined the service in September 2005 and left in October 2007, after earning the rank of E-2 about two months prior. He trained in Illinois and Mississippi before being assigned to the now-decommissioned supercarrier Kitty Hawk in 2006.
His last duty station was with the Transient Personnel Unit in Puget Sound, Washington. Chansley, who calls himself the “QAnon Shaman,” has long been a fixture at Trump rallies, The Associated Press reported Monday.
He was photographed by the AP wearing the same headpiece at a Nov. 7 rally in Phoenix, where supporters of President Donald Trump were protesting the election results. “In that photo, Chansley … held a sign that read, ‘HOLD THE LINE PATRIOTS GOD WINS,'” according to the wire service. “… The FBI identified Chansley by his distinctive tattoos, which include bricks circling his biceps in an apparent reference to Trump’s border wall.”
Chansley’s mom said her son hasn’t eaten since Friday because the detention facility he’s in won’t feed him organic food, ABC15 in Phoenix reported. The Navy vet is one of thousands of Trump supporters who surrounded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 while Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress were affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral win inside. Some moved barriers and pushed past members of the Capitol police, breaking windows to get into the building.
Pence and some lawmakers were ushered to safety, while other members of Congress, staffers and journalists sheltered in place. Video footage show members of the mob breaking into offices, posing for photos and turning over furniture. Chansley is one of at least two military veterans facing charges in connection to last week’s storming of the Capitol.
Retired Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Larry Rendall Brock Jr., who was photographed carrying zip-tie handcuffs and wearing military patches on a flak jacket during the siege, was arrested Sunday in Texas. Brock was charged with knowingly entering a restricted building without lawful authority, according to the Justice Department. The Army is also investigating a psychological operations captain for her involvement in the rally that led to the violent breach of the Capitol. Military officials have pledged to investigate any active-duty troops believed to be involved in the incident.
Two other veterans, Brian Sicknick and Ashli Babbitt, died in connection with last week’s events. Sicknick, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who served six years with the New Jersey Air National Guard, died Thursday after engaging with protesters the day before. Babbitt, a former airman and protester, was shot and killed by police in the Capitol.
Gina Harkins • Military.com
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