Jake Angeli
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| “ | This election has not been called! Don't believe that lie! They got their hands caught in the cookie jar and we're going to the Supreme Court! Trump always looks like he's going to lose. And then he wins. | „ |
| ~ Angeli protesting the 2020 election results. |
Jake Angeli (born Jacob Anthony Angeli Chansley; 1988), also known as the "QAnon Shaman", "Q Shaman", and "Yellowstone Wolf", is an American conspiracy theorist, author, and activist who participated in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol. He is a former supporter of former president Donald Trump and a proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory, and was also associated with the Stop the Steal movement.
Biography edit
Jake Angeli was born c. 1988, to Martha Chansley. He attended Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, Arizona, and Glendale Community College, where he completed some coursework in psychology, religion, philosophy, and ceramics.
Angeli enlisted in the United States Navy on September 26, 2005. After boot camp and training as a supply clerk, he was assigned to the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier in March 2006. At some point, he refused to take an anthrax vaccine and was scheduled for dismissal from the Navy. On September 29, 2007, he was sent to a Transient Personnel Unit in Puget Sound in Washington state, and was processed out of the Navy on October 11. After two years and 15 days in uniform, his final rank was Storekeeper Seaman Apprentice.
Angeli was formerly a supporter of Donald Trump, has a social media following, and has attended rallies supporting QAnon mostly in and around Phoenix. At various rallies in Arizona, he shouted about QAnon conspiracy theories and carried a sign that says "Q Sent Me".
Before attending far-right rallies, Angeli was noticed in 2019 for frequently protesting alone outside the Arizona Capitol, espousing various conspiracy theories. He was reported as a shamanic practitioner when attending a climate activism protest in Arizona. However, in early 2020 he told The Arizona Republic that he began wearing his distinctive fur hat and face paint to attract attention so that he could then talk about QAnon and "other truths". He appeared at a Black Lives Matter protest in the Phoenix area in order to spread the QAnon conspiracy theory. He protested COVID-19 lockdowns in Arizona.
Following the 2020 United States presidential election, Angeli's protests focused on challenging the results of the vote in Arizona. He camped outside the Maricopa County Courthouse during the vote-counting process and gave a speech at a rally there on November 7, the day that President-elect Joe Biden announced his win.
Court transcripts reveal Angeli told the FBI that he had traveled to the Capitol "as a part of a group effort, with other 'patriots' from Arizona, at the request of the President that all 'patriots' come to DC on January 6, 2021".
During the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, Angeli entered the United States Senate floor in the Capitol, wearing his "shamanic" attire, including a horned fur headdress, and war paint in red, white, and blue, as well as carrying a six-foot-high (1.8 m) spear, with an American flag tied below the blade. He was also photographed standing on the raised platform in front of Vice President Mike Pence's chair, gaining him significant media attention. He later said police had initially blocked the crowd from entry, but had then specifically allowed them entry, at which point he entered. However, on March 16, 2021, the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. released previously unseen video footage of Angeli entering the Capitol building after windows were smashed.
Prior to the time that the demonstrators entered the building, Angeli called out for the rioters to pause and join him in prayer saying, "Thank you for allowing the United States to be reborn. We love you and we thank you. In Christ's holy name, we pray." After the riot, Angeli told reporters, "The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks, and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win."
On January 8, Angeli was posted as a person of interest with the Washington DC Police. Interviewed while wanted, Angeli said that he believed he did nothing wrong, telling NBC: "I walked through an open door, dude." On January 8, Angeli told KPNX that he "wasn't worried" about possible charges. Angeli had no criminal record in Arizona before taking part in the riot.
On January 9, Angeli was arrested and brought up on U.S. federal charges of "knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds". A Capitol police special agent was quoted as saying that he pegged Angeli by his "unique attire and extensive tattoos covering his arms and left side of his torso". Angeli voluntarily spoke to the Washington Field Office of the FBI prior to his arrest. Once in prison, Angeli reportedly refused to eat because the food served was not organic. Subsequently, a court ordered that he receive organic food. In a January 14 court filing, federal prosecutors said that Angeli had left a note on Pence's desk in the Senate chamber that said "It's only a matter of time, justice is coming."
On March 8, 2021, federal judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Angeli should not be released from jail, saying his lawyer's arguments were "so frivolous as to insult the Court's intelligence". In a written statement, the judge said the "defendant does not fully appreciate the severity of the allegations against him."
As of January 15, 2021, Angeli is legally represented by St. Louis attorney Albert Watkins, who had previously represented Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the couple involved in St. Louis gun-toting controversy. In a written statement, Watkins argued that Angeli had no part in the violence, did not hide his identity, was unarmed, not destructive, and followed the instructions of law enforcement officials in a respectful fashion; and that Angeli was carrying a megaphone so his voice could be heard. Watkins also said in an interview with KSDK in St. Louis, "He is responsible for his actions. He regrets where he is today", and suggested that President Trump pardon Angeli before leaving office.
His attorney publicly called on President Trump to pardon his client, arguing that Angeli had been unarmed, not violent, and not destructive, and had been acting on the "invitation" of the president. Watkins also made a controversial statement describing Angeli and his fellow defendants as "short-bus" people with "brain damage" and claimed that they were subject to "four-plus years of goddamn propaganda", facing criticism for offensive language.
Angeli made overtures for a presidential pardon from Trump through White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. After Angeli did not get a presidential pardon from Trump, his lawyer issued a statement saying, "He (Angeli) 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."
According to his lawyer, Angeli was prepared to testify against Trump in his second impeachment trial. The trial would later end with Trump's acquittal without any witnesses being called.
After spending eight months in custody awaiting trial, Angeli pleaded guilty on September 3 to obstruction of an official proceeding. His sentencing took place in November when he is sentenced to spend 41 months in prison for rioting.