Judge frees QAnon supporter held six months in Jan. 6 riot

A federal judge on Tuesday approved a QAnon supporter for conditional release after he turned himself in at the beginning of the year for his involvement in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Douglas Jensen of Des Moines, Iowa, was charged with obstructing law enforcement, assault, entering a restricted building as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

U.S. District District Judge Timothy J. Kelly signed the order for Jensen to be released. According to court documents, Jensen must abide by several conditions: He must not violate any federal, state or local laws; he must cooperate in the collection of a DNA sample; he must alert the court of any changes in his residence or telephone number; he must appear in court when ordered; and he must sign an appearance bond if he is ordered to do so.

According to a criminal complaint, Jensen traveled to D.C. from Iowa in order to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally where he wore a “Q” t-shirt, to indicate his adherence to the QAnon conspiracy theories. Jensen is alleged to have led a crowd of people against police officers, ignoring their orders to stop and put their hands up.

“Jensen stated that he intentionally positioned himself to be among the first people inside the United States Capitol because he was wearing his “Q” t-shirt and he wanted to have his t-shirt seen on video so that ‘Q’ could ‘get the credit,'” the complaint read.

The crowd was eventually stopped when the officer they were chasing retreated to an area of the Capitol occupied by additional Capitol police officers.

Jensen turned himself into the Des Moines Police Department on Jan. 8, telling authorities that he wanted to speak to someone because he believed he was in trouble. According to prosecutors, Jensen admitted to being the man seen in videos of the Capitol riot that had been published by The Guardian. He apparently told authorities that he believed the rally would end with the arrest of multiple congress members as well as former Vice President Mike Pence.

Kelly ordered that Jensen be held in custody in February, writing that he “poses a serious risk of danger to the community.” Jensen has four prior criminal convictions, including one for domestic assault.

Tags Mike Pence QAnon United States Capitol United States Capitol attack

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