THE SELF-PROCLAIMED ‘QAnon Shaman’ who went viral during the riots in the US Capitol earlier this month says he now “regrets” his actions and feels “duped” by Donald Trump.
Jacob Chansley, 33, was one of several pro-Trump supporters photographed inside the Capitol building during the riots on January 6.
Decked out in a horned hat, face paint and multiple tattoos, he was also among the first to be arrested and charged for his involvement, in the days following the unrest.
As a result, he is now facing federal charges and up to 25 years in prison for his part in the riots.
So far, 93 people have been charged including an Irish-American realtor Jenna Ryan from Texas who has also expressed regret and claimed she was just “following orders” from Trump.
According to Chansley’s attorney Albert S. Watkins the QAnon Shaman “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.”
Watkins told KSDK-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.
“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 continued.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Watkins later explained to the Daily Mail Chansley is “not alone” in feeling like this.
"We all are compelled to be introspective about our role in creating and permitting an environment where believing the words of a president [is] criminally actionable,” he said.
“My client is understandably compelled to reconcile the words of the former president with the subsequent actions of the former president,” the attorney said in a statement.
“The reconciliation of a betrayal necessarily requires the bellying up to the bar by the betrayed to acknowledge their role in making themselves ripe for betrayal.”
Chansley was arrested in Arizona and has been denied bail.
Since his bail hearing, the protestor he has been transported to Washington DC and will remain in custody until criminal proceedings are underway.
The QAnon Shaman was one of several Trump supporters to lobby the President for a pardon.
None of those arrested following the Capitol Hill riots were included in the outgoing president’s list of pardons.
