The attorney for Anthony Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman who made rounds on social media for his outlandish outfit during the Capitol riot, is blaming former President Trump for his client’s involvement.
“He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the president but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made,” Al Watkins, a lawyer for Chansley, told Missouri’s NBC-affiliated television station KSDK.
Chansley, also known as Jake Angeli, was arrested on Jan. 9 for his role in the riot. At the time, Chansley told NBC News he saw nothing wrong with his actions.
The attorney is blaming Trump’s months of election fraud conspiracy theories for the riot and his client’s actions.
“Let’s roll the tape. Let’s roll the months of lies and misrepresentations and horrific innuendo and hyperbolic speech by our president designed to inflame, enrage, motivate,” Watkins told KSDK. “What’s really curious is the reality that our president, as a matter of public record, invited these individuals, as president, to walk down to the Capitol with him.”
Chansley went viral after the riot for wearing horns and fur and carrying an American flag. He is said to have left a threatening note for former Vice President Mike Pence.
Trump peddled conspiracy theories that the results of the 2020 presidential election were fraudulent and that he was the winner. He also invited supporters to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to support him in a protest.
Trump told supporters to walk toward the Capitol, where Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes, but he never said to break in or put people in harm’s way. However, he called the rioters “special people” in a video that same day.
Chansley has been involved in many protests in Arizona, where he was photographed carrying a “Q sent me” sign, referring to the far-right Qanon conspiracy theory that purports Trump is fighting an underground ring of Satanic pedophiles in the federal government.
Some rioters were hoping for a presidential pardon before Trump left office, but none of them got one. There have been more than 100 arrests, with more to come as the FBI continues to investigate the matter.