Jacob Chansley—the infamous self-proclaimed "QAnon Shaman" who made headlines worldwide after he was photographed wearing a horned fur headdress and war paint in red, white, and blue while carrying a spear as he participated in the storming of the United States Capitol—now claims he was simply trying to "calm the crowd" during the attack.
Speaking to Inside Edition from behind bars in Oklahoma—where he is serving a 41-month prison sentence—Chansley said he regrets "not working to ensure that there was far more peace on that day."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Chansley suggested he did not know what would happen when a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters—spurred by his lies the 2020 general election had been stolen from him and his call for them to march to the Capitol—attacked the Capitol with the intention of stopping the electoral certification of President Joe Biden's win.
He said:
“In retrospect, one thing I can say that I regret is not working to ensure that there was far more peace on that day."
"Had I known what was going to happen, I would have stepped in before any barricades were breached. I actually tried to, on more than one occasion, calm the crowd. But it didn't work."
Chansley blamed the media for making him the public "face" of the attack. His mother—who previously referred to her son as a "patriot"—claimed former President Trump invited everyone to go to the Capitol and stressed she is passionate "about how wrong I think it is that he [Chansley] is even doing any time at all."
Many criticized Chansley for continuing to downplay and lie about the role he played during the attack.
Chansley also used the one-year anniversay of the Capitol attack to share a new conspiracy theory.
In a separate interview with QAnon conspiracy theorist Ann Vendersteel, he claimed there is “a breakaway civilization” underground where military bases are developing technology “several hundred years” more advanced than what exists on the surface.
Chansley was arrested last year on 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."
He was sentenced to a 41-month prison term in November 2021. The Department of Justice had requested a 51-month sentence.
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