PHOENIX (AP) – An Arizona man who took part in the January 6 uprising at the Capitol while wearing face paint, no shirt, and a furry hat with horns now says he regrets storming the building, apologized for it causing fear in others and expressed disappointment with former President Donald Trump.
In a statement released late by his attorney on Monday, Jacob Chansley said he has been re-evaluating his life since being in prison for more than a month on charges resulting from the riot, and he now realizes that he has not entered the Capitol. should have entered. Chansley, who previously said Trump inspired him to be in Washington on January 6, said Trump has “abandoned many peaceful people.”
Chansley said he is coming to terms with the events that led to the riot and asked people to “ have patience with me and other peaceful people who, like me, have a very hard time dealing with everything that happened to us around us. merge. by U.S. We are good people who care deeply about our country. “
Chansley’s attorney, Al Watkins, released the statement about half a day before Trump’s impeachment trial was due to begin in the U.S. Senate.
Watkins, who had unsuccessfully applied for a pardon from Trump on Chansley’s behalf, said the senate did not take up his offer to have his client testify about how he was instigated by the former president.
The defense attorney said his client’s apology was not selfish, but rather a genuine expression of guilt. Still, he said he doesn’t think it is right for the government to prosecute those who have been summoned.
“If you believe that the government is properly prosecuting the (former) president, you cannot simultaneously hold those who have been called up criminally culpable because the people called will be victims,” Watkins said in an interview.
No one answered the phone at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia when The Associated Press called Tuesday to comment on Chansley’s apology.
Chansley was among a group of hundreds of pro-Trump supporters who sued outnumbered police officers and stormed the Capitol as Congress gathered to vote to confirm Joe Biden’s election victory.
Authorities say Chansley was one of the first people in the Capitol, ignored an officer’s order to leave, ignored the officer’s request to use Chansley’s megaphone to tell rioters to leave the Senate Chamber, and sent a letter wrote to then Vice President Mike Pence saying that, “It’s only a matter of time, justice is coming.”
Prosecutors said the spear atop a flagpole carried by Chansley was a weapon, although his attorney has characterized the spear as an ornament.
Since Chansley was in prison, he has twice not eaten because the detention centers where he was held did not serve organic food.
He lost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) during the last famine. Chansley, who calls himself the ‘QAnon Shaman’, said he has been following such a diet for eight years while practicing shamanism.
Last week, a judge ordered corrections officials to provide Chansley with organic food. He was later transferred to a Virginia prison after the District of Columbia Department of Corrections said it could not honor the court order to give him organic food.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of civil disorder and obstructing official proceedings, plus four other felony charges.