PHOENIX — When thousands of rioters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while legislators were certifying the results of the 2020 election, one man from Arizona stood out in the crowd. A shirtless man, wearing a horned hat and carrying a six-foot-tall spear.
That was Jacob Chansley, who was also known by the alias, "QAnon Shaman."
Chansley was charged for his role in the attempted insurrection, eventually pleading guilty to a charge of obstructing Congress and being sentenced to 41 months in prison, with credit for time served, and three years of supervised release.
As part of the investigation into Chansley's role in the insurrection, his hat and spear were seized by the federal government.
After being released from prison, Chansley petitioned to have the items returned. A judge granted that motion on Monday.
"Defendant Jacob Anthony Chansley stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In that respect, he was like thousands of others that day. But he stood out to the entire world because of his 'unmistakable outfit' of 'a horned coyote-tail headdress; red, white, and blue face paint; gloves and no shirt,'" the ruling from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia reads. "In addition, he armed himself with a serious weapon: 'a six-foot pole with an American flag zip-tied to the shaft and a metal spearhead fixed to the top.'
"Since the government has not established that it still needs these items as evidence and has not sought their forfeiture, the Court will GRANT Mr. Chansley's motion."
This comes almost three years since Chansley was sentenced in November 2021. Chansley was described by prosecutors as "the public face of the Capitol riot," and did show remorse for his role in the attempted insurrection at the time.
However, in April 2023, the Court said Chansley "recanted the contrition displayed at his sentencing" by moving to have his sentence vacated due to "newly discovered evidence and ineffective assistance of his plea counsel."
It was on those grounds that the government argued to keep possession of Chansley's items. The court disagreed with that argument, saying that since Chansley has been sentenced, given up his appeal and there being copious amounts of video and photographic evidence of his role in the riot, along with the government not seeking the forfeiture of the headdress and spear, the government holding onto the items would be unreasonable.
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