Fur-clad man who entered Capitol says he acted after Trump put out call to ‘patriots’

The man wearing fur and horns while breaking into the Capitol on Wednesday during the riots voluntarily called the FBI and said he went to Washington, D.C., that day because of President Trump’s call for all “patriots” to go. 

Jacob Anthony Chansley, who goes by Jake Angeli, was photographed in many photos of the Capitol riots due to his outlandish outfit. He admitted to authorities that he wanted to join others from Arizona when Trump called on “patriots” to go to the event.

The shirtless man with furs and a horned hat photographed on the Senate dais during the Capitol siege, Jacob Chansley, has been charged with unlawful entry. He told the FBI he came to D.C. “at the request of the President that all ‘patriots’ come to D.C.” pic.twitter.com/BhDHF4XXfT

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) January 9, 2021

Chansley was arrested along with three others on Saturday for his role in the riots. He will be charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, AZ Central reported. 

Chansley spoke to Adrian Morrow, U.S. correspondent for The Globe and Mail, on Wednesday after the riot about his experience inside the Capitol.

“I spoke with Jake Angeli, the QAnon guy who got inside the Senate chamber. He said police eventually gave up trying to stop him and other Trump supporters, and let them in. After a while, he said police politely asked him to leave and let him go without arrest,” Morrow tweeted. 

I spoke with Jake Angeli, the QAnon guy who got inside the Senate chamber. He said police eventually gave up trying to stop him and other Trump supporters, and let them in. After a while, he said police politely asked him to leave and let him go without arrest

— Adrian Morrow (@AdrianMorrow) January 6, 2021

Chansley will make his first appearance in federal court in Phoenix next week. Many from Arizona knew him due to the attire he wore to previous protests. 

Chansley is a longtime Qanon supporter who was photographed at previous protests with a sign that said, “Q sent me.”

Chansley saw nothing wrong with his actions, telling NBC News, “The fact that we had a bunch of our traitors in office hunker down, put on their gas masks and retreat into their underground bunker, I consider that a win.”