QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley released early from prison because of Jan. 6 security videos

U.S. NEWS



Jan. 6 defendant Jacob Chansley, better known as the QAnon Shaman who wore a buffalo headdress during the Jan. 6 riot, was released early from prison after revelations of exculpatory evidence in previously concealed security video footage.

After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy released videos showing Chansley being escorted around the U.S. Capitol by police, the Jan. 6 defendant was placed into a halfway house, 14 months before the end of his prison sentence.

Chansley, 35, was sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty in 2021 to civil disorder and violent entry to the Capitol. His lawyer, Albert S. Watkins, said his client was taken to a halfway house because of the exculpatory evidence in the video.

“After serving eleven months in solitary before his sentence being imposed, and only 16 months of his sentence thereafter, it is appropriate this gentle and intelligent young man be permitted to move forward with the next stage of what undoubtedly will be a law-abiding and enriching life,” Mr. Watkins said. “I applaud the decision of the US Bureau of Prison in this regard.”

Chansley will later be released from the Phoenix, Arizona, halfway house on May 25.

A spokesperson from the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sentence was cut short after Fox News host Tucker Carlson aired the video of police courteously leading Chansley around the Capitol. The video was provided to Fox News by Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, after the GOP won control of the chamber in the November elections.

Chansley became the infamous face of the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob of demonstration stormed the Capitol to block the certification of President Biden’s win.





source

Rate article
Add a comment