Jacob Chansley is more widely known as the QAnon Shaman, the rioter who was photographed participating in the Jan 6 insurrection while covered in face paint and peculiar accessories. He pleaded guilty and served his sentence — and now wants the FBI to return his infamous headpiece.
Mixed messages
“I had it with me in the car,” Chansley said. While officials have returned the vehicle, Chansley claims that “they refused to give me my headdress and my staff and my phone and my pants. So what’s up with that?”
Old outfit
Chansley’s now-infamous outfit wasn’t purchased specifically for the Jan 6 riot. “Dude, I’ve been dressing that way for over ten years,” he told The Daily Beast.
Infamous or iconic?
In Chansley’s sentencing memorandum, his then-lawyer claimed that the images of the QAnon Shaman were “inextricably linked” to the Jan 6 riot. “They have become to January 6 what the Swoosh is to Nike,” the lawyer claimed.
Prison time
Chansley’s guilty plea to obstructing a federal proceeding resulted in a 41-month prison sentence. Good behavior meant he only served 27 months in prison.
Demanding organic
Chansley made headlines while in prison for going on a hunger strike in protest of the food he was being served. He convinced a judge to have him offered organic food.
Hanging onto the past
However, he hasn’t managed to convince the FBI to return his headdress. “The case is over,” he told The Daily Beast, “so there’s no reason for them to continue holding onto it.”
Common occurrence
According to the nonprofit Institute for Justice’s 2020 Policing for Profit report, local police in the US have seized over $68 billion worth of people’s personal property — without due process — in the last two decades. Most of that property was taken from people acquitted of a crime.
Questionable method
Police are able to seize a suspect’s property under a process known as civil forfeiture. “Prosecutors can then forfeit, or permanently keep, the property without ever charging its owner with a crime,” the report explains.
The real thieves
According to the report, since 2014, individuals have lost more to police seizures than to actual burglars.
Small fry
“The typical individual cash forfeiture is relatively small—only a few hundred or a few thousand dollars,” the report concluded. That’s why “it often makes little economic sense for property owners to fight. The cost of hiring an attorney—a virtual necessity in navigating complex civil forfeiture processes, where there is generally no right to counsel—often outweighs the value of seized property.”
Staying in the spotlight
In November, Chansley indicated his interest in running for Congress as a Libertarian in 2024.
Changing image
When asked by The Daily Beast if he would wear his headdress on the campaign trail, Chansley said he was unsure. “There’s been mixed emotions about it,” he said. “People say that I’m not being taken seriously. Other people are like, ‘Oh, I fricking love it!’”
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