The riots on Capitol Hill produced a few notable animated characters like Adam Johnson, who stole House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern, and the rioters who smeared feces on the walls of the Capitol building. Now, the most recognizable figure who stormed the building has been arrested.
On Saturday (Jan. 9), rioter Jacob Chansley a.k.a Jake Angeli was arrested in Phoenix, Az. after he called the authorities himself and confessed to everything. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the known QAnon supporter called law enforcement the day after the riots.
Chansley told them the authorities that he traveled to Washington, D.C. with a group of Trump supporters. The 33-year-old noted that he went to the event “at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C.” During the riots, the “Q Shaman” wore a horned helmet as he stormed the U.S. Capitol with a 6-foot spear. While inside the building, Chansley was photographed standing at Vice President Mike Pence’s chair on the Senate dais in the Senate chambers while rocking fur, shirtless, and a painted face.
Chansley has been charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Before he was arrested, the rioter confirmed his involvement and boasted about the invasion in an interview with NBC News.
“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,” Chansley said.
The domestic terrorist was arrested as the FBI investigates whether or not the insurrectionist act was an inside job. TMZ reported that the FBI is looking into evidence that points to Capitol police and building staffers assisting the rioters during the invasion.