Judge rejects QAnon shaman Jake Angeli's request to vacate sentence

A federal judge refused Thursday to vacate the sentence of Jake Angeli, the Phoenix man who took part in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, shirtless and wearing a furry horned helmet.

Angeli had asked that his sentence be tossed based largely on security camera footage shown by Tucker Carlson on the highly-rated show he previously hosted on Fox News Network.

The footage showed Angeli walking calmly alongside security officers. An incredulous Carlson asked viewers why officers did not arrest Angeli at that time if he was committing a crime.

In a memo explaining his reason for refusing Angeli’s request, Judge Royce Lamberth criticized Carlson’s broadcast, calling the video clips “cherry-picked." He said Carlson asked viewers to reject the evidence seen by their eyes and heard by their ears.

“The Court finds it alarming that the host's viewers throughout the nation so readily heeded his command,” the judge wrote. He said it was the type of rhetoric that led to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

QAnon shaman: Jake Angeli celebrates homecoming at Scottsdale event

Angeli became the face of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol thanks to his eye-catching getup: shirtless, showing off elaborate shamanistic tattoos, painted face and a horned hat with fur tails that lined his face.

It was a form of the same get-up he wore during protests in the Phoenix area since at least 2019. It was also the outfit he donned hours after his release from federal custody in May. He brought along a camera crew and posed for photos outside the Arizona state Capitol.

On that day, Angeli also started a website where he sells phone cases, sweatpants and T-shirts featuring his image.

Angeli had joined thousands of others who marched to the U.S. Capitol from a speech given by then-President Donald Trump. It was the day when Congress would officially certify Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election and Trump had asked his followers to encourage lawmakers to resist doing so.

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Rioters breached the Capitol and sent lawmakers scurrying for safety. It delayed the certification of the election for several hours.

The judge expressed disappointment that Angeli, who was charged under his legal name, Jacob Chansley, was backpedaling from the remorse he expressed in his statement ahead of sentencing.

At his sentencing hearing, Angeli told the judge he was trying to live up to the model set by Mahatma Gandhi, the man who fought for the independence of India and is revered for his belief in nonviolent political action.

Angeli said he would “take responsibility even and especially when it incriminates me. No ifs, ands or buts about it. That’s what men of honor do.”

Angeli said he had realized the magnitude of his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, and was trying to repent.

“Repentance is apologizing and then moving in the exact opposite direction of the sin that you committed," Angeli said. "And that's what I've been trying to do ever since I realized the magnitude of my error and the magnitude of my mistake.”

For subscribers: Before the US Capitol raid, Jake Angeli and other Trump supporters staged attempt in Arizona

It was Angeli’s contrite words that led Lamberth to give him a sentence on the low end of the federal guidelines. Angeli pleaded guilty to a felony charge of disrupting an official proceeding. He was sentenced in November 2021 to 41 months in prison. He was released from custody in May, having earned early release for good behavior.

Lamberth, though, said in his Thursday ruling that he was “disappointed to learn that, through his filings and public statements, Mr. Chansley has recanted the contrition displayed at his sentencing nearly two years ago. Such an about-face casts serious doubt on the veracity of any of Mr. Chansley's claims, here or elsewhere.”

Judge: Angeli repeatedly ignored commands from officers

Angeli’s request for a vacated sentence was filed by William Shipley, a Hawaii attorney who has defended several people facing charges for their actions during the Capitol riot. He has also been a prodigious fundraiser for the January 6 Legal Defense Fund Foundation.

Shipley, in an April interview with The Arizona Republic, said that fundraising for the cause had slowed. He expected that taking on Angeli’s case would boost donations.

"Jake has committed to helping that happen," Shipley said.

Shipley could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.

In his motion to toss his sentence, Angeli argued that he pleaded guilty without having access to the footage Carlson showed, which he said showed his innocence.

The government argued it had provided that footage to Angeli. And, regardless, Angeli knew of his own actions on that day and didn’t need video to show what happened.

Lamberth, in his ruling, said that the government had disclosed “virtually” all the footage Carlson showed ahead of Angeli’s plea deal.

But, he said that the date of disclosure was immaterial since Angeli himself knew that there were times he walked around the U.S. Capitol without law enforcement stopping him.

“In other words, (Angeli) possessed the facts in the videos well in advance of his plea agreement, yet still determined, quite sensibly, to accept responsibility for his role in the criminal events of January 6, 2021,” the judge wrote.

Angeli was among the first people to enter the Capitol. It was just after someone crawled through a smashed window and opened the door, with alarms sounding. Lamberth, in a previous filing, said that Angeli “spearheaded” entry.

For subscribers: How Jake Angeli went from being a Phoenix character to a face of the US Capitol raid

Angeli was not accused of violence. But, according to prosecutors, he goaded the crowd with shouts through his bullhorn.

Angeli was photographed squaring off with officers. The judge, in his ruling noted that Angeli repeatedly ignored commands from officers.

Eventually, Angeli entered the U.S. Senate chamber and sat at the dais that had been occupied moments before by Vice President Mike Pence. That day, Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress for the exercise of tabulating the electoral votes for president and vice president, usually a routine affair.

Angeli refused commands by an officer to leave the chamber. He left a threatening note for Pence on the dais that said: “It’s only a matter of time. Justice is coming!”

Among the supposedly-new assertions that Carlson made on his program were that an officer held open the door of the U.S. Senate chamber so Angeli could walk inside.

But, Lamberth noted in his ruling, video of Angeli walking through a door, held open by an officer, was readily available.

The judge also noted that Angeli, in an interview with the FBI on Jan. 9, 2021, said that police escorted him into the Senate chamber with a request that he use his bullhorn to ask the rioters to leave.

Angeli did not do so.

Video footage showed that the chamber was cleared after a team of officers entered and ordered everyone out. Angeli was among the last to leave, thanking officers for their work as he did so.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Judge rejects 'QAnon shaman' Jake Angeli's request to vacate sentence