‘Freedom v tyranny’: Shaman symbol of Capitol riots says Trump will win
With his fur-horned hat and spear-tipped flagpole, Jacob Chansley was the face of the January 6 protests. In our exclusive interview he fears the ‘deep state’ will install Kamala Harris regardless of the true winner | WATCH THE VIDEO
Jacob Chansley is still waiting for the FBI to return his horned fur hat and spear tipped flagpole which make him the global symbol of the January 6 invasion of the US Capitol.
Almost four years on, having served 27 months in prison for his role in the riot, Chansley, better known as the QAnon Shaman, is now a free man and he wants to return to Australia where he once visited as a US naval sailor.
“I went to Brisbane, I went to Perth, and I went to Sydney, and I was in the Navy at those times. And I love Australia. It was a beautiful, beautiful country, beautiful people,” he tells The Weekend Australian during a short walk in the Arizona desert on the outskirts of Phoenix.
But Chansley, who flirted with a political career last year, is busy right now lending his voice to the final days of Donald Trump’s campaign, warning that a Kamala Harris presidency would be “the end of America as we know it”.
“Of course I want Trump-Vance to win,” he says. “Because I care about America and humanity. We are talking tyranny versus freedom. Trump-Vance’s freedom versus Harris-Walz’s tyranny.
“The polls are full of crap. We were told in 2016 the polls said Hillary Clinton was going to win, all right, said Trump didn’t have a chance. So I don’t believe the polls, Trump is winning by a landslide.”
Chansley has since disavowed the QAnon movement, but he retains that movement’s deep conspiratorial suspicion of the US government, elections and polls. He fears that the “deep state” will use this election to install Harris regardless of the true result.
His views are similar to those of many far-right Americans who see the politics of Washington as being so fundamentally corrupt that it has become an enemy of the people.
Chansley, 37, is now living the strange life of being a bit-player in world history. He became an accidental celebrity on January 6 for being the best dressed and most recognisable of those who invaded the Capitol.
The photos of him in his horned outfit with painted face roaming the Capitol building and sitting in the Speaker’s chair of the US Senate went viral, making him the face of the insurrection. His character has become a cultural symbol of that day, mocked by South Park and replayed endlessly in footage of the riot.
First meeting
On the morning of January 6, 2021, a few hours before he became infamous, I encountered Chansley while walking down to the White House to hear then president Donald Trump speak. I filmed and photographed the curious looking horned man as he chanted “This is our 1776 baby”, in a megaphone to the passing crowd. Just hours later he was sitting in the speaker’s chair in the US Senate.
Four years later, near his home in Phoenix, I asked him what he meant by that chant. “In 1776 there was a large segment of the population that recognised tyranny when they saw it and decided to take a stand against it. And I think that we are currently in those times right now as well,” he says.
Not surprisingly, the law caught up with Chansley quickly after he found himself later that day sitting in then vice-president Mike Pence’s Senate seat.
He was indicted on six counts in connection with his actions and pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing an official proceeding. He was sentenced to 41 months in prison – one of the longest sentences handed out to the more that 800 people who have been sentenced in relation to January 6 – but he was released last year after serving 27 months.
“I am truly, truly repentant for my actions,” Chansley told the judge at his sentencing in November 2021. “Repentance is apologising and then moving in the exact opposite direction of the sin that you committed. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do ever since I realised the magnitude of my error and the magnitude of my mistake.”
Chansley argues that he has been mischaracterised as being “bad” or “crazy” for his role in the invasion of the Capitol, saying he did not commit any violence and simply followed the mob inside.
Culture wars over actions
His actions have become part of the culture war over the level of guilt of those who invaded the Capitol with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson last year showing video of Chansley walking peacefully through the Capitol alongside a police officer.
But prosecutors hit back saying: “Chansley was not some passive, chaperoned observer of events for the roughly hour that he was unlawfully inside the Capitol. He was part of the initial breach of the building; he confronted law enforcement for roughly 30 minutes just outside the Senate Chamber; he gained access to the gallery of the Senate along with other members of the mob and he gained access to and later left the Senate floor only after law enforcement was able to arrive en masse to remove him.”
Chansley now claims he only entered the Senate to protect it from vandalism and theft.
“I was more focused on stopping vandalism, violence and theft. It wasn’t really like a victory, per se. It was more so about protecting congressmen, policemen and protesters from any harm, because that’s a sacred building. And having something negative happen inside a sacred building is Bad Juju,” he says. But he admits that when he found himself sitting in Mike Pence’s senate chair he couldn’t resist “the momentary selfie that was taken.”
“You know, I had somebody take a picture for me, just because, when are you gonna get a chance to, you know, sit there again, yeah.”
Chansley says of his time in prison “It really sucks. I wouldn’t recommend it.” He clashed with prison authorities and even went to court to ensure that the prison cooked him organic food consistent with his Shamanic beliefs. “It was a motion my lawyer filed with the court. Yeah, I only eat organic food. I only eat food that’s made by God, not by man,” he says.
Since his release from jail, Chansley has been pursuing a career as a Shaman, bouncing off the fleeting fame from his January 6 spotlight.
“On my website, forbidden truth academy.com, I offer spiritual consultations, like shamanic consultations, I also have some merchandise, and my book is also for sale on the website as well. I am here to help elevate the collective consciousness of humanity. To help create peace, prosperity, abundance, love and, you know, obedience to truth.”
Exploring Indigenous Australian spirituality
Chansley says he wants to return to Australia to explore the spirituality of Indigenous Australians. He says last time he was in Australia, with the US Navy, he saw the Opera House, ate kangaroo and just did “stupid tourist stuff” but now he wants to see Uluru.
“Uluru is the first place I’d want to go in Australia because it’s actually like the Root Chakra of the earth. It’s a very spiritual place. There’s a massive vortex that sits there in Uluru with where that massive rock is at.”
“The Indigenous Australians, according to my research, are highly, highly advanced. I mean there’s reports of them being able to communicate with one another telepathically, using the ley lines…and they were able to use the ley lines to navigate the Outback like they were roads. And they could figure out ways to get back home. They could also communicate using this grid system like a telephone system,” he says.
Asked about the coming election Chansey says his opposition to Harris is based on immigration, global security and the economy above all else.
“It would be the end of America as we know it,” he says. “The reason why I say that is this, they’re importing a bunch of voters from all over the world, and if they give them citizenship, especially in these swing states, then they’re going to change the swing states from swing states to blue states. So the demographic is going to change dramatically, as far as the electoral college is concerned.
“And if we have more of the same in Ukraine, we’re going toward world war three. If we have more of the same in the Middle East, we’re going toward world war three. Clearly, what’s happening isn’t working. So whether it be the issues at the border or in the Middle East or economic issues here Bidenflation, right…more of the same.”
He believes that Trump is so far ahead that if Harris were declared the victor on election night it would show that the poll was rigged by the deep state.
“Elections in this country have been corrupt for a very, very long time,” he says. “But I think it will be too big to rig. I do believe Trump is gonna win. I have enough faith in God that this is going to be. The future is bright.”
But there is another, more personal benefit awaiting Chansley if Trump wins. Trump has pledged to pardon most of those convicted of crimes on January 6. “Yeah,” Chansley says with a smile. “I’m looking forward to a pardon.”
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