You’ve probably seen the photos of Jacob Angeli, aka the “QAnon Shaman” from the riots that took place at the U.S. Capitol last week. After all, a man wearing a horned headdress with his face painted red, white, and blue does tend to stand out in a crowd.
As it turns out, Angeli told FBI the reason he was in Washington, D.C. and participated in storming the Capitol building is because he was doing so “at the request of the president.”
Kyle Cheney of Politico took a close look at the court filings when charges were filed against the “Shaman,” and found some very interesting factoids that should be of special concern to President Donald Trump:
“Your affiant and an FBI agent spoke on the phone with [Jacob] CHANSLEY, who confirmed that he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President’s chair in the Senate,” investigators said in an affidavit filed in court. “CHANSLEY stated that he came as a part of a group effort, with other ‘patriots’ from Arizona, at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C. on January 6, 2021.”
Yesterday, Republicans asked whether any of the rioters had actually said they acted at the behest of President Trump.
This is from the newly unsealed criminal complaint against “Q Shaman,” Jacob Angeli >>> pic.twitter.com/oa8CWvzPuB
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 14, 2021
WHAT A SENTENCE: “Your affiant and an FBI agent spoke on the phone with CHANSLEY, who confirmed that he was the male in the face paint and headdress in the Vice President’s chair in the Senate.”
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 14, 2021
Here’s the image included with the complaint. pic.twitter.com/TLfnzdOEwG
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 14, 2021
(To clear up any confusion, Jake Angeli is actually the alias used by Jacob Anthony CHANSLEY)
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 14, 2021
And yet, Trump and his supporters continue to maintain that the president played no role in the rioting, even though he gave a speech that same day in which he proclaimed:
“If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Angeli’s statements to the FBI also match what was seen on pro-Trump message boards:
After four years, the insurrectionists were carefully attuned to Trump’s messaging.
Every tweet and statement of his was treated as marching orders and carefully dissected for meaning.
It’s why shutting down Trump’s Twitter account was so important. pic.twitter.com/xk9d2NibYy
— Melissa (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) January 9, 2021
Here are additional screenshots of Trump supporters interpreting Trump’s “Wild Protest” tweets.
This is stochastic terrorism in action. pic.twitter.com/CZQSAr0Hkl
— Melissa (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) January 9, 2021
So when Trump and his most ardent congressional supporters — i.e. Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan — try to defend the president from impeachment and removal from office by claiming that he never once encouraged his fans to march to the Capitol and lay siege to it, they’re clearly lying. And that could mean that Trump winds up humiliated by impeachment and also faces criminal charges in the District of Columbia for inciting a riot.
Words have power. And those same words can also be used against you in a court of law.
Featured Image Via NBC News